The scrapbooks(1972-1982) contain newspaper clippings and other printed materials pertaining to Congressman Butler's activities while in office. They are arranged chronologically. From September 1977 on, the information in the scrapbooks is rated for its quality for re-use by staffers on a grading system (A, B, C, etc.). A matrix chart at the beginning of each scrapbook serves as a table of contents. The charts also provide news story synopses, dates, and topics. In addition to general volumes treating a variety of topics, separate scrapbooks were created for the 1972, 1976, 1978, and 1980 congressional campaigns. There are also scrapbooks devoted to such topics as: editorials, economic conferences, farm conferences, and minority business conferences.

Speeches(1973-1982) are also arranged chronologically. The audience, occasion, and location are usually noted. From January 1976 onward, a topical index is present in addition to the chronological listings that are available for all of the years. Some nine speeches are missing from the original inventory, while others not on that listing were found during processing and added to the finding aid.

Newsletters(1973-1981)were generated by Congressman Butler's staff to keep citizens of the Sixth District of Virginia informed on issues before the House, and on the activities of his office. The newsletters(N:) are arranged chronologically with an alphabetical reference index that has been updated through October 1, 1982. This index includes references to Radio Reports(RR#) and Weekly Reports(WR#). News (Press) Releases (1972-1982), Radio Reports (1973-1978), and Weekly Reports (1979-1982) are arranged chronologically and their indices provide brief summaries of the topics discussed.

The Members Personal Voting Recordcovers the period 1973-1982 (93rd Congress First Session to the 97th Congress Second Session). Each Congress' voting record is divided into two sessions. A cumulative record for each Congress is also present. Included here are: roll numbers, dates, daily record page number, description, and members response. Each record contains a roll call subject guide and an index to the voting record. Although Butler began his congressional term with the 92nd Congress, there is no personal voting record for this time.

The Constituency Correspondenceis almost exclusively from the period of the impeachment of Richard M. Nixon. The letters are divided into those favoring impeachment and those opposed to this action. There is also correspondence in reaction to the pardon of Nixon by President Gerald R. Ford.

Materials concerning the Confirmation of Gerald R. Ford as Vice Presidentinclude: correspondence, memoranda, a briefing book, and transcriptions of testimony and proceedings during the hearings.

Ford medical and financial records are closed.

Congressman Butler sat on the House Judiciary committee that investigated and voted on the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon. The impeachment materials are 15 cu. ft. in extent and include: narratives about the Watergate break-in and related events, and about the bombing of Cambodia; interview transcripts and recorded testimony of persons involved in Watergate activities; general impeachment inquiry materials(committee notebooks, personal notes, etc.); reports on White House Surveillance activities; Department of Justice/ITT Litigation; Milk Producers Cooperatives investigations; papers re the Judiciary Committee's "Fragile Coalition"; general correspondence and memoranda; and printed materials. (See also, the series of constituent correspondence that precedes the impeachment materials. Butler kept an audio diary during the impeachment process, and these cassette recordings are included here, as are his written notes from this time. Also present are partial transcripts of an oral history project on the "Fragile Coalition" conducted in 1974.

The Bankruptcy Materialsare 18 cu. ft. of papers documenting Butler's work in the drafting and passage of the legislation popularly known as the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978. Forms of materials present include: minutes of the Bankruptcy Commission, mark-up books on various versions of bankruptcy bills, memoranda, briefing materials, meetings transcripts, hearing transcripts, conference materials, Congressional Record Notebooks, audio tapes of mark-up sessions, and supplemental information on bankruptcy legislation with relevant testimony.

This material was arranged by Butler's office into three major components: 1)general materials in ring-binder notebooks to which Roman Numerals were assigned; 2)"Supplemental Materials: ... " filed in "books" numbered 1-45; and, 3) Ken Klee's research materials. The arrangement of these materials is not easily grasped, but the donor has provided a "road map." A Butler document from around 1980 entitled "The Narrative History of the Bankruptcy Act Revision" provides a concise, informal legislative history of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 from Mr. Butler's perspective. It also discusses the creation and arrangement of these records and includes references to the Roman numeral numbering scheme employed by Butler's staff. This narrative is found in the first folder of the first box of bankruptcy materials(box 31). A second helpful narrative entitled "The Establishment of the Commission" states the reasons that impelled Congress to establish the Commission on Bankruptcy in June of 1970. This can be found in box 45 in the folder titled "Mun. 5." Ken Klee's article on bankruptcy legislative (box 46) may also be of use in understanding events leading up to the 1978 act. The article is entitled, "Congress and the Bankruptcy Act of 1976," and appeared in volume 61 of the American Bar Association Journal(October, 1975).

The general materialshave been removed from the ring-binders, but the folders that now hold them are labeled with the Roman numeral corresponding to the binder in which they were formerly housed. Everything from 1971 research materials to the printed public law version of the 1978 Bankruptcy Reform Act can be found here. Books and pamphlets printed by the Government Office of Printing are found in Roman numeral sections I and III-IX. Included here are the Commission on Bankruptcy Laws Report, H.R. 10792, H.R. 16643, Hearings on H.R. 31 and H.R. 32, Hearings on S. 235, S. 236, H.R. 6, and oversized side-by-side comparisons of VI (H) and XIII of H.R. 31 and 32 and S. 2266 and H.R. 8200 (stored in box 49).

All of the "Supplemental Legislation and Testimony" is contained in 45 "books" and includes correspondence, notes and paste-ups of various sections of proposed versions of the bankruptcy bill. Section "F," of XLIII "Conference Materials" (Box 35, Folder 9 from the general materials described above) contains the index to the 45 books. Much of the contents are reiterations of information from the "Roman numeral" notebooks arranged for quick reference. Testimony is arranged by bill section.

The Ken Klee's bankruptcy files were created while Klee served as associate counsel for the Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights of the House Committee on the Judiciary. They are 4 cu. ft. in extent and are divided into three sections: uniform bankruptcy file, municipal bankruptcy file (MUN), and bankruptcy act subject files. An index to Klee's files is contained in Section "E" of XLIII "Conference Materials" (Box 35, Folder 9). The Uniform Bankruptcy Files are arranged numerically beginning with the number 102 and contain statements, testimonies, correspondence, memoranda, drafts and other relevant materials regarding the proposed bankruptcy rules. The Municipal Bankruptcy File is arranged numerically. The files are designated MUN with a corresponding number. These files also contain drafts, testimonies, statements, memorandums and reports. Klee's Bankruptcy Subject Files are arranged alphabetically. Included here (under 'g') is general correspondence from 1973-1978.

Legal Services Corporation Actpapers consist of one cu. ft. of materials concerning the authorization of funding for this entity for the fiscal years 1982-1984. Included here are: the authorization bill, itself; correspondence; "discussion papers"; press clippings; transcripts of testimony and hearing proceedings. (The one file of material about the re-authorization of the Department of Justice follows the Legal Services papers.)

The National Bankruptcy Review Commissionpapers are from Butler's service as a member of that body from 1995-1997. These 16 cu. ft. of materials include: correspondence; meeting minutes; memoranda and documents distributed to commission members; and the report of the commission and drafts of that report.