not later than 4 years after the enactment of this Act, 
except that the Review Board may, by majority vote, ex-
tend its term for an additional 2-year period if it has not 
completed its work within that 4-year period. 
(2) Upon its termination, the Review Board shall 
submit reports to the President and the Congress includ-
ing a complete and accurate accounting of expenditures 
during its existence, and shall complete all other reporting 
requirements under this Act. 
(3) Upon termination and winding up, the Review 
Board shall transfer all of its records to the Archivist for 
inclusion in the Collection, and no record of the Review 
Board shall be destroyed and records created in the course 
of its duties will be released to the public within 60 days 
of its termination. 
SEC. 8. RECORDS REVIEW BOARD PERSONNEL. 
(a) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—
(1) APPOINTMENT.— Not later than 45 days 
after the initial meeting of the Review Board, the 
Review Board shall appoint one citizen, without re-
gard to political affiliation, to the position of Execu-
tive Director. 
(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The person appointed as 
Executive Director shall be a private citizen of integ-
rity and impartiality who is a distinguished profes-
sional and who is not a present employee of any 
branch of the Government, has not previously been 
employed by an intelligence agency, and has had no 
previous involvement with any official investigation 
or inquiry relating to the life or assassination of 
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 
(3) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—
(A) A candidate for Executive Director 
shall be granted the necessary security clear-
ances in an accelerated manner subject to the 
standard procedures for granting such clear-
ances. 
(B) A candidate shall qualify for the nec-
essary security clearance prior to being ap-
proved by the Review Board. 
(4) DUTIES.—The Executive Director shall—
(A) serve as principal liaison to Govern-
ment offices; 
(B) be responsible for the administration 
and coordination of the Review Board’s review 
of records; 
(C) be responsible for the administration 
of all official activities conducted by the Review 
Board; and
(D) have no authority to decide or deter-
mine whether any record should be disclosed to 
the public or postponed for disclosure.
(5) REMOVAL.—The Executive Director shall 
not be removed for reasons other than by a majority 
vote of the Review Board for cause on the grounds 
of inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance in office, 
physical disability, mental incapacity, failure to meet 
or falsification of any qualifications under paragraph 
(2), or any other condition that substantially impairs 
the performance of the responsibilities of the Execu-
tive Director or the staff of the Review Board. 
(b) STAFF.—
(1) IN GENERAL.— The Review Board, without 
regard to the provisions of title 5, United States 
Code, governing appointments in the competitive 
service and without regard to the provisions of chap-
ter 51 and chapter 53 of that title relating to classi-
fication and General Service pay rates, may appoint 
and terminate additional personnel as are necessary 
to enable the Review Board and its Executive Direc-
tor to perform its duties. 
(2) QUALIFICATIONS.— A person appointed to 
the staff of the Review Board shall be a private cit-
izen of integrity and impartiality who is not a
present employee of any branch of the Government, 
has not previously been in the employ of any intel-
ligence agency, and who has had no previous involve-
ment with any official investigation or inquiry relat-
ing to the life or assassination of Reverend Dr. Mar-
tin Luther King, Jr. 
(3) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—
(A) ACCELERATION.—A candidate for staff 
shall be granted the necessary security clear-
ances in an accelerated manner subject to the 
standard procedures for granting such clear-
ances. 
(B) CONDITIONAL EMPLOYMENT.—(i) The 
Review Board may offer conditional employ-
ment to a candidate for a staff position pending 
the completion of security background inves-
tigations. During the pendency of such inves-
tigations, the Review Board shall ensure that 
any such employee does not have access to, or 
responsibility involving, classified or otherwise 
restricted related record materials. 
(ii) If a person hired on a conditional basis 
under clause (i) is denied other otherwise does 
not qualify for all security clearances necessary 
to carry out the responsibilities of the position
for which conditional employment has been of-
fered, the Review Board shall immediately ter-
minate the person’s employment. 
(c) COMPENSATION.—Subject to such rules as may 
be adopted by the Review Board, the chairperson, without 
regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, 
governing appointments in the competitive service and 
without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and chapter 
53 of that title relating to classification and General Serv-
ice pay rates, may—
(1) appoint an Executive Director, who shall be 
paid at a rate not to exceed the rate of basic pay 
for level V of the Executive Schedule; and 
(2) appoint and fix compensation of such other 
personnel as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 
(d) ADVISORY COMMITTEES.—(1) The Review Board 
shall create advisory committees to assist in fulfilling the 
responsibilities of the Review Board under this Act. 
(2) Any advisory committee created by the Review 
Board shall be subject to the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act (5 U.S.C. App.). 
(e) SECURITY CLEARANCE REQUIRED.—An indi-
vidual employed in any position by the Review Board 
(including an individual appointed as Executive Director) 
shall be required to qualify for any necessary security
clearance prior to taking office in that position, but may 
be employed conditionally in accordance with subsection 
(b)(3)(B) before qualifying for that clearance. 
SEC. 9. REVIEW OF RECORDS BY THE RECORDS REVIEW 
BOARD. 
(a) CUSTODY OF RECORDS REVIEWED BY BOARD.—
Pending the outcome of the Review Board’s review activ-
ity, a Government office shall retain custody of its related 
records for purposes of preservation, security, and effi-
ciency, unless—
(1) the Review Board requires the physical 
transfer of records for reasons of conducting an 
independent and impartial review; or 
(2) such transfer is necessary for an adminis-
trative hearing or other official Review Board func-
tion. 
(b) STARTUP REQUIREMENTS.—The Review Board 
shall—
(1) not later than 90 days after the date of its 
appointment, publish a schedule for review of all as-
sassination records in the Federal Register; and 
(2) not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, begin its review of related 
records under this Act. 
(c) DETERMINATIONS OF THE REVIEW BOARD.—
(1) TRANSMITTAL.—The Review Board shall 
direct that all related records be transmitted to the 
Archivist and disclosed to the public in the Collec-
tion in the absence of clear and convincing evidence 
that—
(A) a Government record is not a related 
record; or 
(B) a Government record or particular in-
formation within a related record qualifies for 
postponement of public disclosure under this 
Act. 
(2) POSTPONEMENT.—In approving postpone-
ment of public disclosure of a related record, the Re-
view Board shall seek to—
(A) provide for the disclosure of segregable 
parts, substitutes, or summaries of such a 
record; and 
(B) determine, in consultation with the 
originating body and consistent with the stand-
ards for postponement under this Act, which of 
the following alternative forms of disclosure 
shall be made by the originating body: 
(i) Any reasonably segregable par-
ticular information in a related record.
(ii) A substitute record for that infor-
mation which is postponed. 
(iii) A summary of a related record.
(3) REPORT.—With respect to each related 
record or particular information in related records 
the public disclosure of which is postponed pursuant 
to section 6, or for which only substitutions or sum-
maries have been disclosed to the public, the Review 
Board shall create and transmit to the Archivist a 
report containing—
(A) a description of actions by the Review 
Board, the originating body, the President, or 
any Government office (including a justification 
of any such action to postpone disclosure of any 
record or part of any record) and of any official 
proceedings conducted by the Review Board 
with regard to specific related records; and 
(B) a statement, based on a review of the 
proceedings and in conformity with the deci-
sions reflected therein, designating a rec-
ommended specified time at which or a specified 
occurrence following which the material may be 
appropriately disclosed to the public under this 
Act. 
(4) DISCLOSURE.—
(A) NOTICE.—Following its review and a 
determination that a related record shall be 
publicly disclosed in the Collection or postponed 
for disclosure and held in the protected Collec-
tion, the Review Board shall notify the head of 
the originating body of its determination and 
publish a copy of the determination in the Fed-
eral Register within 14 days after the deter-
mination is made. 
(B) LEGISLATIVE BRANCH.—Contempora-
neous notice shall be made to the President for 
Review Board determinations regarding execu-
tive branch related records, and to the oversight 
committees designated in this Act in the case of 
legislative branch records. Such notice shall 
contain a written unclassified justification for 
public disclosure or postponement of disclosure, 
including an explanation of the application of 
any standards contained in section 6. 
(d) PRESIDENTIAL
AUTHORITY
OVER
REVIEW 
BOARD DETERMINATION.—
(1) PUBLIC
DISCLOSURE
OR
POSTPONEMENT 
OF DISCLOSURE.—After the Review Board has made 
a formal determination concerning the public disclo-
sure or postponement of disclosure of an executive
branch related record or information within such a 
record, or of any information contained in a related 
record, obtained or developed solely within the exec-
utive branch, the President shall have the sole and 
nondelegable authority to require the disclosure or 
postponement of such record or information under 
the standards set forth in section 6, and the Presi-
dent shall provide the Review Board with an unclas-
sified written certification specifying the President’s 
decision within 30 days after the Review Board’s de-
termination and notice to the executive branch agen-
cy as required under this Act, stating the justifica-
tion for the President’s decision, including the appli-
cable grounds for postponement under section 6, ac-
companied by a copy of the identification aid re-
quired under section 4. If, after 30 days, the Presi-
dent has not transmitted such written certification 
to the Review Board, the Board may proceed accord-
ing to its formal determination. 
(2) PERIODIC REVIEW.—Any executive branch 
related record postponed by the President shall be 
subject to the requirements of periodic review, down-
grading and declassification of classified informa-
tion, and public disclosure in the collection set forth 
in section 4.
(3) RECORD
OF
PRESIDENTIAL
POSTPONE-
MENT.—The Review Board shall, upon its receipt, 
publish in the Federal Register a copy of any unclas-
sified written certification, statement, and other ma-
terials transmitted by or on behalf of the President 
with regard to postponement of related records. 
(e) NOTICE TO PUBLIC.—Every 30 calendar days, be-
ginning on the date that is 60 calendar days after the date 
on which the Review Board first approves the postpone-
ment of disclosure of a related record, the Review Board 
shall publish in the Federal Register a notice that summa-
rizes the postponements approved by the Review Board 
or initiated by the President, the House of Representa-
tives, or the Senate, including a description of the subject, 
originating agency, length or other physical description, 
and each ground for postponement that is relied upon. 
(f) REPORTS BY THE REVIEW BOARD.—(1) The Re-
view Board shall report its activities to the leadership of 
the Congress, the Committee on Government Reform of 
the House of Representatives, the Committee on Govern-
mental Affairs of the Senate, the President, the Archivist, 
and the head of any Government office whose records have 
been the subject of Review Board activity. 
(2) The first report shall be issued on the date that 
is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and sub-
sequent reports every 12 months thereafter until termi-
nation of the Review Board. 
(3) A report under paragraph (1) shall include the 
following information: 
(A) A financial report of the expenses for all of-
ficial activities and requirements of the Review 
Board and its personnel. 
(B) The progress made on review, transmission 
to the Archivist, and public disclosure of related 
records. 
(C) The estimated time and volume of assas-
sination records involved in the completion of the 
Review Board’s performance under this Act. 
(D) Any special problems, including requests 
and the level of cooperation of Government offices, 
with regard to the ability of the Review Board to op-
erate as required by this Act. 
(E) A record of review activities, including a 
record of postponement decisions by the Review 
Board or other related actions authorized by this 
Act, and a record of the volume of records reviewed 
and postponed. 
(F) Suggestions and requests to Congress for 
additional legislative authority needs.
(G) An appendix containing copies of reports of 
postponed records to the Archivist required under
section 9(c)(3) made since the date of the preceding 
report under this subsection. 
(4) At least 90 calendar days before completing its 
work, the Review Board shall provide written notice to the 
President and Congress of its intention to terminate its 
operations at a specified date. 
SEC. 10. DISCLOSURE OF OTHER MATERIALS AND ADDI-
TIONAL STUDY. 
(a) MATERIALS UNDER SEAL OF COURT.—
(1) HEADER.—The Review Board may request 
the Attorney General to petition any court in the 
United States or abroad to release any information 
or physical evidence relevant to the life or assassina-
tion of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that 
is held under seal of the court. 
(2) HEADER.—
(A) The Review Board may request the At-
torney General to petition any court in the 
United States to release any information rel-
evant to the life or assassination of Reverend 
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that is held under 
the injunction of secrecy of a grand jury.
(B) A request for disclosure of life or as-
sassination materials under this Act shall be 
deemed to constitute a showing of particular-
ized need under Rule 6 of the Federal Rules of 
Criminal Procedure. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the 
Congress that—
(1) the Attorney General should assist the Re-
view Board in good faith to unseal any records that 
the Review Board determines to be relevant and held 
under seal by a court or under the injunction of se-
crecy of a grand jury; 
(2) the Secretary of State should contact any 
other foreign government that may hold information 
relevant to the life and assassination of Reverend 
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and seek the disclo-
sure of such information; and 
(3) all Executive agencies should cooperate in 
full with the Review Board to seek the disclosure of 
all information relevant to the life and assassination 
of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., consistent 
with the public interest. 
SEC. 11. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Any person who is aggrieved by 
a violation of this Act may bring a civil action in an appro-
priate district court for declaratory or injunctive relief 
with respect to the violation. 
(b) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—In a civil action under this 
section, the court may allow the prevailing party (other 
than the United States) reasonable attorney fees, includ-
ing litigation expenses, and costs. 
SEC. 12. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 
(a) PRECEDENCE OVER OTHER LAW.—When this 
Act requires transmission of a record to the Archivist or 
public disclosure, it shall take precedence over any other 
law (except section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code), 
judicial decision construing such law, or common law doc-
trine that would otherwise prohibit such transmission or 
disclosure. 
(b) FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.—Nothing in 
this Act shall be construed to eliminate or limit any right 
to file requests with any executive agency or seek judicial 
review of the decisions pursuant to section 552 of title 5, 
United States Code. 
(c) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Nothing in this Act shall be 
construed to preclude judicial review, under chapter 7 of 
title 5, United States Code, of final actions taken or re-
quired to be taken under this Act. 
(d) EXISTING AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this Act re-
vokes or limits the existing authority of the President, any
executive agency, the Senate, or the House of Representa-
tives, or any other entity of the Government to publicly 
disclose records in its possession. 
(e) RULES OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REP-
RESENTATIVES.—To the extent that any provision of this 
Act establishes a procedure to be followed in the Senate 
or the House of Representatives, such provision is adopt-
ed—
(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of 
the Senate and House of Representatives, respec-
tively, and is deemed to be part of the rules of each 
House, respectively, but applicable only with respect 
to the procedure to be followed in that House, and 
it supersedes other rules only to the extent that it 
is inconsistent with such rules; and 
(2) with full recognition of the constitutional 
right of either House to change the rules (so far as 
they relate to the procedure of that House) at any 
time, in the same manner, and to the same extent 
as in the case of any other rule of that House. 
SEC. 13. TERMINATION OF EFFECT OF ACT. 
(a) PROVISIONS
PERTAINING
TO
THE
REVIEW 
BOARD.—The provisions of this Act that pertain to the 
appointment and operation of the Review Board shall
cease to be effective when the Review Board and the terms 
of its members have terminated pursuant to section 7(o). 
(b) OTHER PROVISIONS.—The remaining provisions 
of this Act shall continue in effect until such time as the 
Archivist certifies to the President and the Congress that 
all assassination records have been made available to the 
public in accordance with this Act. 
SEC. 14. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 
as are necessary to carry out this Act, to remain available 
until expended. 
SEC. 15. RECORDS PENDING. 
Upon termination of the Review Board, all records 
that are still pending postponement determinations shall 
be presumed to be available for release. 
SEC. 16. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION. 
All members of the Review Board staff, the Review 
Board, NARA, and all Federal agencies covered under this 
Act shall treat relevant employees in accordance with the 
Whistleblowers Protection Act provisions, particularly re-
lating to the disclosure of improper document retention, 
release, and disclosure. 
SEC. 17. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this Act or the application thereof 
to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remain-
der of this Act and the application of that provision to 
other persons not similarly situated or to other cir-
cumstances shall not be affected by the invalidation.
Æ