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19the date of enactment unless, in the case of executive branch records, the President demonstrates that public disclosure will result in an identifiable harm to the national security, intelligence operations, or foreign relations of the United States.The Assassination Records Review Board is an independent agency within the executive branch. The five-member Review Board will be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. The confirmation hearings will be conducted by the Committee on Governmental Affairs. The Act requires that the Review Board include at least one historian and one attorney, and that each member is a national recognized professional in his or her field. The legislation requires that prior to making the appointments, the President is required to consider recommendations from the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the Society of American Archivists, and the American Bar Association.To ensure a comprehensive search and disclosure of assassination records, particularly to enable the public to obtain information and records beyond the scope of previous official inquiries, the Review Board has the authority to direct any government office to produce additional information and records which it believes are related to the assassination. It has the authority to subpoena private persons and to enforce the subpoenas through the courts.The Review Board is authorized for a two-year period and it may be extended by a majority vote of the Review Board for up to an additional year. The Review Board could decide to extend it existence to less than one year if that is the time determined as necessary to complete its work. Annual financial reports and other periodic reports are required to be provided to the Congress. The reports must include statements of progress, the level of cooperation of government offices and agencies, and the possible need for additional time or authority from Congress.IV. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATIONOn November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. It was a tragic and defining moment in American history. The desire by the American public to understand who assassinated President Kennedy, and why, has resulted in several official investigations and a broad spectrum of private inquiries and scholarship. Unfortunately, in the eyes of the public, each investigation and inquiry served to raise additional questions, and did so while increasing the volume of secret government records about the assassination. In 1992, the public demand, fostered by increased media attention, the opening of secret files by changing governments around the world, and other factors, culminated in the recognition by the Congress and the Executive Branch that the records related to the assassination of President Kennedy should be fully disclosed.In addition to the legislation considered by the Committee, and its counterpart considered by the House Committee on Government Operations, four other related, though more limited, measures were introduced in the House of Representatives in 1992. Two bills mandating the release of all Kennedy assassination investigation