104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1281

AN ACT

To express the sense of the Congress that it is the

lic.Nazi war crimes should make these records pubindividuals who are alleged to have committedernment agencies in possession of records aboutpolicy of the Congress that United States Gov-
★

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1281

AN ACT

To express the sense of the Congress that United States

Government agencies in possession of records about individuals who are alleged to have committed Nazi war

crimes should make these records public.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2

•HR 1281 EH

1 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds that—

3 (1) during the 104th Congress, Americans com4 memorated the 50th anniversary of the conclusion of

5 the Second World War and the end of the Holo6 caust, one of the worst tragedies in history;

7 (2) it is important to learn all that we can

8 about this terrible era so that we can prevent such

9 a catastrophe from ever happening again;

10 (3) the cold war is over;

11 (4) numerous nations, including those of the

12 former Soviet Union, are making public their files on

13 Nazi war criminals as well as crimes committed by

14 agencies of their own governments;

15 (5) on April 17, 1995, President Clinton signed

16 Executive Order 12958, which will make available

17 certain previously classified national security docu18 ments that are at least 25 years old;

19 (6) that Executive Order stated: ‘‘Our demo20 cratic principles require that the American people be

21 informed of the activities of their Government.’’;

22 (7) this year marks the 30th anniversary of the

23 passage of the Freedom of Information Act;

24 (8) agencies of the United States Government

25 possess information on individuals who ordered, in-
3

•HR 1281 EH

1 cited, assisted, or otherwise participated in Nazi war

2 crimes;

3 (9) some agencies have routinely denied Free4 dom of Information Act requests for information

5 about individuals who committed Nazi war crimes;

6 (10) United States Government agencies may

7 have been in possession of material about the war

8 crimes facilitated by Kurt Waldheim but did not

9 make this information public;

10 (11) it is legitimate not to disclose certain ma11 terial in Government files if the disclosure would se12 riously and demonstrably harm current or future na13 tional defense, intelligence, or foreign relations ac14 tivities of the United States and if protection of

15 these matters from disclosure outweighs the public

16 interest of disclosure;

17 (12) the disclosure of most Nazi war crimes in18 formation should not harm United States national

19 interests; and

20 (13) the Office of Special Investigations of the

21 Department of Justice is engaged in vital work in22 vestigating and expelling Nazi war criminals from

23 the United States, accordingly, the records created

24 by these investigations and other actions should not
4

•HR 1281 EH

1 be disclosed, and the investigations and other actions

2 should not be interfered with.

3 SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

4 It is the sense of the Congress that United States

5 Government agencies in possession of records about indi6 viduals who are alleged to have committed Nazi war

7 crimes should make these records public.

Passed the House of Representatives September 24,

1996.

Attest:

Clerk.