I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1272 

To provide for the expeditious disclosure of records related to civil rights 

cold cases, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2017 

Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To provide for the expeditious disclosure of records related 

to civil rights cold cases, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cold Case Record Col5 lections Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) All government records related to civil 

9 rights cold cases shall be preserved for historical and 

10 governmental purposes. 


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1 (2) All government records concerning civil 

2 rights cold cases shall carry a presumption of imme3 diate disclosure, and all records shall be eventually 

4 disclosed to enable the public to become fully in5 formed about the history surrounding the cases. 

6 (3) Legislation is necessary to create an en7 forceable, independent, and accountable process for 

8 the public disclosure of such records. 

9 (4) Legislation is necessary because congres10 sional records related to civil rights cold cases would 

11 not otherwise be subject to public disclosure. 

12 (5) Legislation is necessary because section 552 

13 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as 

14 the Freedom of Information Act), as implemented by 

15 the executive branch, has prevented the timely and 

16 adequate public disclosure of records relating to civil 

17 rights cold cases. 

18 (6) Legislation is necessary because Executive 

19 Order 13526 (75 Fed. Reg. 707; relating to classi20 fied national security information), while eliminating 

21 the declassification and downgrading of schedules re22 lating to classified information across government, 

23 has not resulted in the timely and adequate public 

24 disclosure of records relating to civil rights cold 

25 cases. 


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1 (7) Most of the records related to the civil 

2 rights cold cases are almost 50 years old and only 

3 in the rarest cases is there any legitimate need for 

4 continued protection of such records. 

5 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) ARCHIVIST.—The term ‘‘Archivist’’ means 

8 the Archivist of the United States. 

9 (2) CIVIL RIGHTS COLD CASE.—The term ‘‘Civil 

10 Rights Cold Case’’ means any unsolved case related 

11 to criminal civil rights statutes specifically— 

12 (A) section 241 of title 18, United States 

13 Code (relating to conspiracy against rights); 

14 (B) section 242 of title 18, United States 

15 Code (relating to deprivation of rights under 

16 color of law); 

17 (C) section 245 of title 18, United States 

18 Code (relating to federally protected activities); 

19 (D) sections 1581 and 1584 of title 18, 

20 United States Code (relating to involuntary ser21 vitude and peonage); 

22 (E) section 901 of the Fair Housing Act 

23 (42 U.S.C. 3631); and 

24 (F) any other Federal law that— 


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1 (i) was in effect on or before Decem2 ber 31, 1969; and 

3 (ii) the criminal section of the Civil 

4 Rights Division of the Department of Jus5 tice enforced, prior to the date of enact6 ment of this Act. 

7 (3) COLLECTION.—The term ‘‘Collection’’ 

8 means the Civil Rights Cold Cases Collection estab9 lished under section 4. 

10 (4) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive 

11 Agency’’ means an executive agency as defined in 

12 subsection 552(f) of title 5, United States Code, and 

13 includes any executive department, military depart14 ment, Government Corporation, government con15 trolled corporation, or other establishment in the ex16 ecutive branch of the government, including the Ex17 ecutive Office of the President, or any independent 

18 regulatory agency. 

19 (5) GOVERNMENT OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Govern20 ment office’’ means any office of the Federal Gov21 ernment that has possession or control of civil rights 

22 cold cases records. 

23 (6) GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL.—The term ‘‘Gov24 ernment official’’ means any officer or employee of 


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1 the United States, including elected and appointed 

2 officials. 

3 (7) IDENTIFICATION AID.—The term ‘‘Identi4 fication aid’’ means the written description prepared 

5 for each record as required in section 224. 

6 (8) NATIONAL ARCHIVES.—The term ‘‘National 

7 Archives’’ means the National Archives and Records 

8 Administration and all components thereof, includ9 ing Presidential archival depositories established 

10 under section 2112 of title 44, United States Code. 

11 (9) OFFICIAL INVESTIGATION.—The term ‘‘Of12 ficial Investigation’’ means the reviews of Civil 

13 Rights Cold Cases conducted by any entity of the 

14 Federal Government either independently, at the re15 quest of any Presidential commission or congres16 sional committee, or at the request of any govern17 ment official. 

18 (10) ORIGINATING BODY.—The term ‘‘Origi19 nating body’’ means the executive agency, govern20 ment commission, congressional committee, or other 

21 governmental entity that created a record or par22 ticular information within a record. 

23 (11) PUBLIC INTEREST.—The term ‘‘Public in24 terest’’ means the compelling interest in the prompt 

25 public disclosure of Civil Rights Cold Cases records 


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1 for historical and governmental purposes and for the 

2 purpose of fully informing the American people 

3 about the history surrounding all Civil Rights Cold 

4 Cases in the United States. 

5 (12) RECORD.—The term ‘‘Record’’ includes a 

6 book, paper, map, photograph, sound or video re7 cording, machine readable material, computerized, 

8 digitized, or electronic information, regardless of the 

9 medium on which it is stored, or other documentary 

10 material, regardless of its physical form or charac11 teristics. 

12 (13) CIVIL RIGHTS COLD CASE RECORD.—The 

13 term ‘‘Civil Rights Cold Case Record’’ means a 

14 record that is related to Civil Rights Cold Cases, 

15 that was created or made available for use by, ob16 tained by, or otherwise came into the possession 

17 of— 

18 (A) the Library of Congress; 

19 (B) the National Archives and Records Ad20 ministration; 

21 (C) any executive agency; 

22 (D) any independent agency; 

23 (E) any other entity of the Federal Gov24 ernment; and 


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1 (F) any State or local government, or com2 ponent thereof, that provided support or assist3 ance or performed work in connection with a 

4 Federal inquiry into Civil Rights Cold Cases. 

5 (14) REVIEW BOARD.—The term ‘‘Review 

6 Board’’ means the Civil Rights Cold Cases Records 

7 Review Board established by section 6. 

8 (15) THIRD AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Third agen9 cy’’ means an executive agency that originated a 

10 Civil Rights Cold Case record that is in the posses11 sion of another agency. 

12 (16) WIDELY ACCESSIBLE FORMAT.—The term 

13 ‘‘Widely accessible format’’ refers to an open format 

14 that is platform independent, machine readable, and 

15 made available to the public without restrictions that 

16 would impede the re-use of that information. 

17 SEC. 4. CIVIL RIGHTS COLD CASE RECORDS COLLECTION 

18 AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORD 

19 ADMINISTRATION. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

21 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS

22 COLD CASE RECORDS COLLECTION.—Not later than 

23 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

24 the Archivist shall— 


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1 (A) establish a collection of cold case 

2 records to be known as the ‘‘Civil Rights Cold 

3 Case Records Collection’’ that ensures the phys4 ical integrity and original provenance of all 

5 records in the Collection; and 

6 (B) prepare and publish the subject guide7 book and index to the Collection. 

8 (2) CONTENTS OF COLLECTION.—The Collec9 tion shall include— 

10 (A) a copy of each cold case record that 

11 shall be transmitted to the Archivist in accord12 ance with section 2107 of title 44, United 

13 States Code; 

14 (B) each cold case record— 

15 (i) that has been transmitted to the 

16 Archivist or disclosed to the public in an 

17 unredacted form before the date of the en18 actment of this Act; 

19 (ii) that is required to be transmitted 

20 to the Archivist; and 

21 (iii) the disclosure of which is post22 poned under this Act; 

23 (C) a central directory comprised of identi24 fication aids created for each record trans25 mitted to the Archivist under section 5; and 


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1 (D) all Review Board records as required 

2 by this Act. 

3 (b) DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS.—All cold case records 

4 transmitted to the Archivist for disclosure to the public 

5 shall be included in the Collection and shall be available 

6 to the public for inspection and copying at the National 

7 Archives within 30 days after the transmission of such 

8 record to the Archivist. 

9 (c) FEES FOR COPYING.—The Archivist shall— 

10 (1) use efficient electronic means when possible; 

11 (2) charge fees for copying cold case records; 

12 and 

13 (3) grant waivers of such fees pursuant to the 

14 standard established by section 552(a)(4) of title 5, 

15 United States Code. 

16 (d) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—The Archivist, in 

17 consultation with the Information Security Oversight Of18 fice, shall ensure the security of the postponed cold case 

19 records in the Collection. 

20 (e) TRANSMISSION TO THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES.— 

21 Each Government office shall— 

22 (1) transmit to the Archivist and make avail23 able to the public not later than 300 days after the 

24 date of the enactment of this Act, each cold case 

25 record that can be publicly disclosed including any 


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1 such record that is publicly available on the date of 

2 enactment of this Act, without any redaction, adjust3 ment, or withholding under the standards of this 

4 Act; and 

5 (2) transmit to the Archivist upon approval for 

6 postponement by the Review Board or upon comple7 tion of other action authorized by this Act, each cold 

8 case record for which public disclosure has been 

9 postponed, in whole or in part, under the standards 

10 of this Act, to become part of the protected Collec11 tion. 

12 (f) CUSTODY OF POSTPONED COLD CASE

13 RECORDS.—A cold case record for which public disclosure 

14 has been postponed shall, pending transmission to the Ar15 chivist, be held for reasons of security and preservation 

16 by the originating body until such time as the information 

17 security program has been established at the National Ar18 chives as required in section 4(c)(2). 

19 (g) PERIODIC REVIEW OF POSTPONED COLD CASE

20 RECORDS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each postponed or redacted 

22 record shall be reviewed every 180 days by the origi23 nating agency and the Archivist consistent with the 

24 recommendations of the Review Board under section 

25 8(c)(3)(B). 


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1 (2) REQUIREMENTS OF PERIODIC REVIEW.— 

2 The periodic review shall— 

3 (A) address the public disclosure of addi4 tional cold case records in the Collection under 

5 the standards of this Act; and 

6 (B) serve to downgrade and declassify clas7 sified information, with the presumption of pro8 viding public disclosure. 

9 (3) UNCLASSIFIED WRITTEN DESCRIPTION.— 

10 Any postponed cold case record that is determined 

11 to require continued postponement shall include an 

12 unclassified written description of the reason for 

13 such continued postponement. Such description shall 

14 be provided to the Archivist and published in the 

15 Federal Register upon determination. 

16 (4) FULL DISCLOSURE OF COLD CASE RECORD

17 REQUIRED.—Each cold case record shall be publicly 

18 disclosed in full, and available in the Collection not 

19 later than 25 years after the date of enactment of 

20 this Act unless— 

21 (A) continued postponement is made nec22 essary by an identifiable harm to military de23 fense, intelligence operations, or the conduct of 

24 foreign relations; and 


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1 (B) the identifiable harm is of such gravity 

2 that it outweighs the public interest in disclo3 sure. 

4 (h) DIGITIZATION OF RECORDS.—Executive branch 

5 agencies shall make text searchable documents available 

6 to the Review Board pursuant to standards established by 

7 section 552(a)(3) of title 5, United States Code. 

8 SEC. 5. GROUNDS FOR POSTPONEMENT OF PUBLIC DISCLO9 SURE OF RECORDS. 

10 Disclosure of Civil Rights Cold Case records or par11 ticular information within a cold case record to the public 

12 may be postponed subject to the limitations of this Act 

13 if there is clear and convincing evidence that: 

14 (1) The threat to the military defense, intel15 ligence operations, or the conduct of domestic affairs 

16 of the United States posed by the public disclosure 

17 of the cold case record is of such gravity that the 

18 disclosure outweighs the public interest and would 

19 reveal— 

20 (A) an intelligence source or method that 

21 is currently used, or reasonably expected to be 

22 used, by the United States Government and 

23 which has not been officially disclosed, the dis24 closure of which would interfere with the con25 duct of intelligence activities; or 


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1 (B) any other matter relating to the mili2 tary defense, intelligence operations, or conduct 

3 of foreign relations with the United States, the 

4 disclosure of which would demonstrably impair 

5 the national security of the United States. 

6 (2) The public disclosure of the cold case record 

7 would reveal the name or identity of a living person 

8 who provided confidential information to the United 

9 States and would pose a substantial risk of harm to 

10 that person. 

11 (3) The public disclosure of the cold case record 

12 could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwar13 ranted invasion of personal privacy, and that inva14 sion of privacy is so substantial that the protection 

15 of privacy outweighs the public interest. 

16 (4) The public disclosure of the cold case record 

17 would compromise the existence of an understanding 

18 of confidentiality currently requiring protection be19 tween a Government agent and a cooperating indi20 vidual or group and public disclosure would be so 

21 harmful that the understanding of confidentiality 

22 outweighs the public interest. 

23 (5) The public record of the cold case record 

24 would reveal a security or protective procedure used, 

25 or reasonably expected to be used, by the United 


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1 States Secret Service or another executive agency re2 sponsible for protecting Government officials, and 

3 public disclosure would be so harmful that protective 

4 procedure outweighs the public interest. 

5 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT AND POWERS OF THE COLD CASE 

6 RECORDS REVIEW BOARD. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established, as an 

8 independent agency, a board to be known as the Cold Case 

9 Records Review Board. 

10 (b) APPOINTMENT.—(1) The President shall appoint 

11 5 persons to serve as members of the Review Board to 

12 ensure and facilitate the review, transmission to the Archi13 vist, and public disclosure of government records related 

14 to civil rights cold cases. 

15 (2) Initial appointments to the Review Board shall, 

16 so far as practicable, be made not later than 30 days after 

17 the enactment of this Act. 

18 (3) In making appointments to the Review Board the 

19 President shall consider any persons recommended by the 

20 American Historical Association, the Organization of 

21 American Historians, the Society of American Archivists, 

22 and the American Bar Association. 

23 (4) If an organization described in paragraph (3) 

24 does not recommend at least two nominees meeting the 

25 qualifications stated in paragraph (4) within 30 days after 


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1 the enactment of this Act, the requirements of paragraph 

2 (2) shall be extended until such recommendations are 

3 made or 60 days, whichever comes first. 

4 (5) The President may request any organization de5 scribed in paragraph (2) to submit additional nominations. 

6 (6) Persons nominated to the Review Board shall— 

7 (A) be impartial private citizens, none of whom 

8 is presently employed by any branch of the Govern9 ment, and none of whom shall have had any previous 

10 involvement with any official investigation or inquiry 

11 conducted by the Federal Government, or any State 

12 or local government, relating to any Civil Rights 

13 Cold Cases; 

14 (B) be distinguished persons of high national 

15 professional reputation in their respective fields who 

16 are capable of exercising the independent and objec17 tive judgment necessary to fulfill their role in ensur18 ing and facilitating the review, transmission to the 

19 public, and public disclosure of files related to Cold 

20 Cases and who possess an appreciation of the value 

21 of such material to the public, scholars, and govern22 ment; and 

23 (C) include at least one professional historian 

24 and one attorney. 


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1 (c) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—All Review Board 

2 nominees shall be processed for the necessary security 

3 clearances in an accelerated manner subject to the stand4 ard procedures for granting such clearances. 

5 (d) VACANCY.—A vacancy on the Review Board shall 

6 be filled in the same manner as the original appointment 

7 within 30 days of the occurrence of the vacancy. 

8 (e) CHAIRPERSON.—The members of the Review 

9 Board shall elect one of its members as chairperson. 

10 (f) REMOVAL OF REVIEW BOARD MEMBER.— 

11 (1) No member of the Review Board shall be 

12 removed from office, other than— 

13 (A) by impeachment and conviction; or 

14 (B) by the action of the President for inef15 ficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance in office, 

16 physical disability, mental incapacity, or any 

17 other condition that substantially impairs the 

18 performance of the member’s duties. 

19 (2)(A) If a member of the Review Board is re20 moved from office, and that removal is by the Presi21 dent, not later than 10 days after the removal the 

22 President shall submit to the Committee on Over23 sight and Government Reform of the House of Rep24 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland Secu25 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report 


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1 specifying the facts found and the grounds for the 

2 removal. 

3 (B) The President shall publish in the Federal 

4 Register a report submitted under subparagraph 

5 (A), except that the President may, if necessary to 

6 protect the rights of a person named in the report 

7 or to prevent undue interference with any pending 

8 prosecution, postpone or refrain from publishing any 

9 or all of the report until the completion of such 

10 pending cases or pursuant to privacy protection re11 quirements in law. 

12 (3)(A) A member of the Review Board removed 

13 from office may obtain judicial review of the removal 

14 in a civil action commenced in the United States 

15 District Court for the District of Columbia. 

16 (B) The member may be reinstated or granted 

17 other appropriate relief by order of the court. 

18 (g) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.— 

19 (1) A member of the Review Board shall be 

20 compensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent 

21 of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for Level 

22 IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of 

23 title 5, United States Code, for each day (including 

24 travel time) during which the member is engaged in 

25 the performance of the duties of the Review Board. 


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1 (2) A member of the Review Board shall be al2 lowed reasonable travel expenses, including per diem 

3 in lieu of subsistence, at rates for employees of agen4 cies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 

5 United States Code, while away from the member’s 

6 home or regular place of business in the perform7 ance of services for the Review Board. 

8 (h) DUTIES OF THE REVIEW BOARD.— 

9 (1) The Review Board shall consider and render 

10 decisions on a determination by a Government office 

11 to seek to postpone the disclosure of Cold Case 

12 Records. 

13 (2) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Review 

14 Board shall consider and render decisions— 

15 (A) whether a record constitutes a Cold 

16 Case Record; and 

17 (B) whether a Cold Case Record or par18 ticular information in a record qualifies for 

19 postponement of disclosure under this Act. 

20 (i) POWERS.—The Review Board shall have the au21 thority to act in a manner prescribed under this Act in22 cluding the authority to— 

23 (1) obtain access to Cold Case records that 

24 have been identified and organized by a Government 

25 office; 


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1 (2) direct a Government office to make avail2 able to the Review Board, and if necessary inves3 tigate the facts surrounding, additional information, 

4 records, or testimony from individuals, which the 

5 Review Board has reason to believe is required to 

6 fulfill its functions and responsibilities under this 

7 Act; 

8 (3) subpoena private persons to compel testi9 mony, records, and other information relevant to its 

10 responsibilities under this Act; 

11 (4) require any Government office to account in 

12 writing for the destruction of any records relating to 

13 Civil Rights Cold Cases; 

14 (5) receive information from the public regard15 ing the identification and public disclosure of Cold 

16 Case records; and 

17 (6) hold hearings, administer oaths, and sub18 poena witnesses and documents. Any subpoena 

19 issued under this paragraph may be enforced by any 

20 appropriate Federal court acting pursuant to a law21 ful request of the Review Board. 

22 (j) WITNESS IMMUNITY.—The Review Board shall be 

23 considered to be an agency of the United States for pur24 poses of chapter 601 of title 18, United States Code. 


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1 (k) OVERSIGHT.—The Committee on Oversight and 

2 Government Reform of the House of Representatives and 

3 the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 

4 Affairs of the Senate shall be responsible for the disposi5 tion of postponed records after termination of the Review 

6 Board; and shall have access to any records held or cre7 ated by the Review Board. 

8 (l) SUPPORT SERVICES.—The Administrator of the 

9 General Services Administration shall provide administra10 tive services for the Review Board on a reimbursable basis. 

11 (m) INTERPRETIVE REGULATIONS.—The Review 

12 Board may issue interpretive regulations. 

13 (n) TERMINATION.— 

14 (1) The Review Board shall terminate not later 

15 than 2 years after the enactment of this Act, except 

16 that the Review Board may, by majority vote, extend 

17 its term for an additional 1-year period if it has not 

18 completed its work within that 2-year period. 

19 (2) Upon its termination, the Review Board 

20 shall submit reports to the President and the Con21 gress, including a complete and accurate accounting 

22 of expenditures during its existence, and shall com23 plete all other reporting requirements under this 

24 Act. 


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1 (3) Upon termination, the Review Board shall 

2 transfer all of its records to the Archivist for inclu3 sion in the Collection, and the records of the Review 

4 Board shall not be destroyed. 

5 SEC. 7. COLD CASE RECORDS REVIEW BOARD PERSONNEL. 

6 (a) CHIEF OF STAFF.— 

7 (1) APPOINTMENT.—Not later than 45 days 

8 after the initial meeting of the Review Board, the 

9 Review Board shall appoint one United States cit10 izen, without regard to political affiliation, to the po11 sition of Chief of Staff. 

12 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The individual appointed 

13 as Chief of Staff— 

14 (A) shall be a private citizen of integrity 

15 and impartiality who is a distinguished profes16 sional; 

17 (B) may not be a present employee of the 

18 Federal Government; and 

19 (C) shall have had no previous involvement 

20 with any official investigation or inquiry relat21 ing to Civil Rights Cold Cases. 

22 (3) CANDIDATE TO HAVE CLEARANCES.—A 

23 candidate for Chief of Staff shall be granted the nec24 essary security clearances in an accelerated manner 


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1 subject to the standard procedures for granting such 

2 clearances. 

3 (4) APPROVAL CONTINGENT ON PRIOR CLEAR4 ANCE.—A candidate shall qualify for the necessary 

5 security clearance prior to being approved by the Re6 view Board. 

7 (5) DUTIES.—The Chief of Staff shall— 

8 (A) serve as principal liaison to Govern9 ment offices; 

10 (B) be responsible for the administration 

11 and coordination of the Review Board’s review 

12 of records; 

13 (C) be responsible for the administration 

14 of all official activities conducted by the Review 

15 Board; and 

16 (D) have no authority to decide or deter17 mine whether any record shall be disclosed to 

18 the public or postponed for disclosure. 

19 (6) REMOVAL.—The Chief of Staff shall not be 

20 removed for reasons other than by a majority vote 

21 of the Review Board for cause on the grounds of in22 efficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance in office, 

23 physical disability, mental incapacity, or any other 

24 condition that substantially impairs the performance 


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1 of the responsibilities of the Chief of Staff or the 

2 staff of the Review Board. 

3 (b) STAFF.— 

4 (1) ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL.—The Review 

5 Board may, in accordance with the civil service laws 

6 but without regard to civil service law and regulation 

7 for competitive service as defined in subchapter 1 of 

8 chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, appoint 

9 and terminate additional personnel as are necessary 

10 to enable the Review Board and its Chief of Staff 

11 to perform its duties. 

12 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—A person appointed to 

13 the staff of the Review Board— 

14 (A) shall be a private citizen of integrity 

15 and impartiality; 

16 (B) may not be an employee of the Federal 

17 Government; and 

18 (C) shall have had no previous involvement 

19 with any official investigation or inquiry relat20 ing to the Civil Rights Cold Cases. 

21 (3) NOMINATIONS.—Before making an appoint22 ment pursuant to paragraph (1), the Review Board 

23 shall consider individuals recommended by the 

24 American Historical Association, the Organization of 


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1 American Historians, the Society of American Archi2 vists, and the American Bar Association. 

3 (4) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—A candidate shall 

4 qualify for the necessary security clearance prior to 

5 being approved by the Review Board. 

6 (c) COMPENSATION.—The Review Board shall fix the 

7 compensation of the Chief of Staff and or personnel in 

8 accordance with title 5, United States Code, except that 

9 the rate of pay for the Chief of Staff and other personnel 

10 may not exceed the rate payable for Level V of the Execu11 tive Schedule under section 5316 of that title. 

12 (d) ADVISORY COMMITTEES.—The Review Board 

13 shall have the authority to create advisory committees to 

14 assist in fulfilling the responsibilities of the Review Board 

15 under this Act. 

16 SEC. 8. REVIEW OF RECORDS BY THE COLD CASE RECORDS 

17 REVIEW BOARD. 

18 (a) CUSTODY OF RECORDS REVIEWED BY THE

19 BOARD.—Pending the outcome of the Review Board’s re20 view activity, a Government office shall retain custody of 

21 its cold case records for purposes of preservation, security, 

22 and efficiency, unless— 

23 (1) the Review Board requires the physical 

24 transfer of records for reasons of conducting an 

25 independent and impartial review; or 


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1 (2) such transfer is necessary for an adminis2 trative hearing or other official Review Board func3 tion. 

4 (b) STARTUP REQUIREMENTS.—The Review Board 

5 shall— 

6 (1) not later than 90 days after the date of its 

7 appointment, publish a schedule for review of all 

8 cold case records in the Federal Register; and 

9 (2) not later than 180 days after the enactment 

10 of this Act, begin its review of cold case records 

11 under this Act. 

12 (c) DETERMINATION OF THE REVIEW BOARD.— 

13 (1) The Review Board shall direct that all cold 

14 case records be transmitted to the Archivist and dis15 closed to the public in the Collection in the absence 

16 of clear and convincing evidence that— 

17 (A) a Government record is not a cold case 

18 record; or 

19 (B) a Government record or particular in20 formation within a cold case record qualifies for 

21 postponement of public disclosure under this 

22 Act. 

23 (2) In approving postponement of public disclo24 sure of a cold case record, the Review Board shall 

25 work to— 


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1 (A) provide for the disclosure of segregable 

2 parts, substitutes, or summaries of such a 

3 record; and 

4 (B) determine, in consultation with the 

5 originating body and consistent with the stand6 ards for postponement under this Act, which of 

7 the following alternative forms of disclosure 

8 shall be made by the originating body: 

9 (i) Any reasonably segregable par10 ticular information in a cold case record. 

11 (ii) A substitute record for that infor12 mation which is postponed. 

13 (iii) A summary of a cold case record. 

14 (3) With respect to each cold case record or 

15 particular information in cold case records the public 

16 disclosure of which is postponed pursuant to section 

17 5, or for which only substitutions or summaries have 

18 been disclosed to the public, the Review Board shall 

19 create and transmit to the Archivist a report con20 taining— 

21 (A) a description of actions by the Review 

22 Board, the originating body, the President, or 

23 any Government office (including a justification 

24 of any such action to postpone disclosure of any 

25 record or part of any record) and of any official 


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1 proceedings conducted by the Review Board 

2 with regard to specific cold case records; and 

3 (B) a statement, based on a review of the 

4 proceedings and in conformity with the deci5 sions reflected therein, designating a rec6 ommended specified time at which or a specified 

7 occurrence following which the material may be 

8 appropriately disclosed to the public under this 

9 Act. 

10 (4) Following its review and a determination 

11 that a cold case record shall be publicly disclosed in 

12 the Collection or postponed for disclosure and held 

13 in the protected Collection, the Review Board shall 

14 notify the head of the originating body of its deter15 mination and publish a copy of the determination in 

16 the Federal Register within 14 days after the deter17 mination is made. 

18 (5) Contemporaneous notice shall be made to 

19 the President for Review Board determinations re20 garding executive branch cold case records, and to 

21 the oversight committees designated in this Act in 

22 the case of legislative branch records. Such notice 

23 shall contain a written unclassified justification for 

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1 cluding an explanation of the application of any 

2 standards in section 5. 

3 (d) PRESIDENTIAL AUTHORITY OVER REVIEW

4 BOARD DETERMINATION.— 

5 (1) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OR POSTPONEMENT

6 OF DISCLOSURE.—After the Review Board has made 

7 a formal determination concerning the public disclo8 sure or postponement of disclosure of an executive 

9 branch cold case record or information contained in 

10 an cold case record, obtained or developed solely 

11 within the executive branch, the President shall have 

12 the sole and nondelegable authority to require the 

13 disclosure or postponement of such record or infor14 mation under the standards set forth in section 5, 

15 and the President shall provide the Review Board 

16 with an unclassified written certification specifying 

17 the President’s decision within 30 days after the Re18 view Board’s determination and notice to the execu19 tive branch agency as required under this Act, stat20 ing the justification for the President’s decision, in21 cluding the applicable grounds for postponement 

22 under section 5, accompanied by a copy of the iden23 tification aid required under section 4. 

24 (2) PERIODIC REVIEW.—Any executive branch 

25 cold case record postponed by the President shall be 


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1 subject to the requirements of periodic review, down2 grading, and declassification of classified informa3 tion, and public disclosure in the Collection set forth 

4 in section 4. 

5 (3) RECORD OF PRESIDENTIAL POSTPONE6 MENT.—The Review Board shall, upon its receipt, 

7 publish in the Federal Register a copy of any unclas8 sified written certification, statement, and other ma9 terials transmitted by or on behalf of the President 

10 with regard to postponement of cold case records. 

11 (e) NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC.—Every calendar day, 

12 beginning 60 days after the Review Board first approves 

13 the postponement of disclosure of an cold case record, the 

14 Review Board shall publish in the Federal Register a no15 tice that summarizes the postponements approved by the 

16 Review Board or initiated by the President, the House of 

17 Representatives, or the Senate, including a description of 

18 the subject, originating agency, length or other physical 

19 description, and each ground for postponement that is re20 lied upon. 

21 (f) REPORTS BY THE REVIEW BOARD.— 

22 (1) The Review Board shall report its activities 

23 to the Speaker, Minority Leader and the Committee 

24 on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 

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1 ity Leader, and the Committee on Homeland Secu2 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the 

3 President, the Archivist, and the head of any Gov4 ernment office whose records have been the subject 

5 of Review Board activity. 

6 (2) The first report shall be issued 1 year after 

7 the enactment of this Act, and subsequent reports 

8 shall be issued every 12 months thereafter until ter9 mination of the Review Board. 

10 (3) A report under paragraph (1) shall include 

11 the following information: 

12 (A) A financial report of the expenses for 

13 all official activities and requirements of the 

14 Review Board and its personnel. 

15 (B) The progress made on review, trans16 mission to the Archivist, and public disclosure 

17 of cold case records. 

18 (C) The estimated time and volume of cold 

19 case records involved in the completion of the 

20 Review Board’s performance under this Act. 

21 (D) Any special problems, including re22 quests and the level of cooperation of Govern23 ment offices, with regard to the ability of the 

24 Review Board to operate as required by this 

25 Act. 


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1 (E) A record of review activities, including 

2 a record of postponement decisions by the Re3 view Board or other related actions authorized 

4 by this Act, and a record of the volume of 

5 records reviewed and postponed. 

6 (F) Recommendations and requests to 

7 Congress for additional authorization. 

8 (G) An appendix containing copies of re9 ports of postponed records to the Archivist re10 quired under section 8(c)(3) made since the 

11 date of the preceding report under this sub12 section. 

13 (4) At least 90 calendar days before completing 

14 its work, the Review Board shall provide written no15 tice to the President and the Congress of its inten16 tion to terminate its operations at a specified date. 

17 SEC. 9. DISCLOSURE OF OTHER INFORMATION AND ADDI18 TIONAL STUDY. 

19 (a) MATERIALS UNDER THE SEAL OF THE COURT.— 

20 (1) The review board may request the Attorney 

21 General to petition any court in the United States 

22 or abroad to release any information relevant to 

23 Civil Rights related cold cases that is held under 

24 seal of court. 


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1 (2) The Review Board may request the Attor2 ney General to petition any court in the United 

3 States to release any information relevant to Civil 

4 Rights related cold cases that is held under the in5 junction of secrecy of a grand jury. 

6 (3) A request for disclosure of Civil Rights cold 

7 case materials under this Act shall be deemed to 

8 constitute a showing of particularized need under 

9 Rule 6 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. 

10 (4) The Attorney General shall comply with any 

11 request made subject to provisions of the section 

12 within 45 days. 

13 (b) COOPERATION WITH AGENCIES.—It is the sense 

14 of Congress that— 

15 (1) the Attorney General shall assist the Review 

16 Board in good faith to unseal any records that the 

17 Review Board determines to be relevant and held 

18 under the seal by a court or under the injunction of 

19 secrecy of a grand jury; and 

20 (2) all departments and agencies of the United 

21 States Government shall cooperate in full with the 

22 Review Board to seek the disclosure of all informa23 tion relevant to civil rights related cold cases con24 sistent with the public interest. 


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1 SEC. 10. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

2 (a) PRECEDENCE OVER OTHER LAW.—When this 

3 Act requires transmission of a record to the Archivist or 

4 public disclosure, it shall take precedence over any other 

5 law (except section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code), 

6 judicial decisions construing such law, or common law doc7 trine that would otherwise prohibit such transgression or 

8 disclosure with the exception of deeds governing access to 

9 or transfer or release of gifts and donations of records 

10 to the United States Government. 

11 (b) FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.—Nothing in 

12 this Act shall be construed to eliminate or limit any right 

13 to file any requests with any executive agency or seek judi14 cial review of the decisions pursuant to section 552 of title 

15 5, United States Code. 

16 (c) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Nothing in this Act shall be 

17 construed to preclude judicial review, under chapter 7 of 

18 title 5, United States Code, of final sections taken or re19 quired to be taken under this Act. 

20 (d) EXISTING AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this Act re21 vokes or limits the existing authority of the President, any 

22 executive agency, the Senate, the House of Representa23 tives, or any other entity of the Government to publicly 

24 disclose records in its possession. 

25 (e) RULES OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REP26 RESENTATIVES.—To the extent that any provision of this 


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1 Act establishes a procedure to be followed in the Senate 

2 or the House of Representatives, such provision is adopt3 ed— 

4 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 

5 the Senate and House of Representatives, respec6 tively, and is deemed to be part of the rules of each 

7 House, respectively, but applicable only with respect 

8 to the procedure to be followed in that House, and 

9 it supersedes other rules only to the extent that it 

10 is inconsistent with such rules; and 

11 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional 

12 right of either House to change the rules (so far as 

13 they relate to the procedure of that House) at any 

14 time, in the same manner, and to the same extent 

15 as in the case of any other rule of that House. 

16 SEC. 11. TERMINATION OF EFFECT OF ACT. 

17 (a) PROVISIONS PERTAINING TO THE REVIEW

18 BOARD.—The provisions of this Act that pertain to the 

19 appointment and operation of the Review Board shall 

20 cease to be effective when the Review Board and the terms 

21 of its members have terminated pursuant to section 6(n). 

22 (b) OTHER PROVISIONS.—The remaining provisions 

23 of this Act shall continue in effect until such time as the 

24 Archivist certifies to the President and the Congress that 


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1 all Civil Rights Cold Cases records have been made avail2 able to the public in accordance with this Act. 

3 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro5 priated such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act, 

6 to remain available until expended. 

7 (b) INTERIM PROVISIONS.—Until such time as funds 

8 are appropriated pursuant to subsection (a), the President 

9 shall use such sums as are available for discretionary use 

10 to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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