Meetings and minutes
Statement for the record
A declaration a member requires to be entered in the minutes, regardless of what the majority thinks.
A statement for the record is a declaration a member asks to have entered in the minutes, so that it stands there regardless of what was decided.
It is typically used to mark that one has warned against something, that one considers the handling of the matter to have been inadequate, or that one wants the reasoning behind a position documented.
The difference from dissent
Dissent is voting against. The statement for the record is a text explaining why, or saying something about the matter without being tied to a vote.
They often appear together: a member votes against and additionally asks for their reasoning to be entered in the minutes.
Why it deserves to be taken seriously
The purpose is accountability. On a board where a decision later turns out to cause the company a loss, the question can become who knew what and who gave warning. The statement for the record is the documentation.
That is precisely why a statement should not be rewritten or tightened up by whoever takes the minutes. Write it as the member asked, in quotation marks word for word if necessary.
What it looks like
STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD
[Name] asked to have entered in the minutes:
"I consider the matter insufficiently examined on the point of
delivery risk, and the decision therefore to have been taken on
an inadequate basis."