subject to the standard procedures for granting such 
clearances. 
(4) APPROVAL CONTINGENT ON PRIOR CLEAR-
ANCE.—A candidate shall qualify for the necessary 
security clearance prior to being approved by the Re-
view Board. 
(5) DUTIES.—The Chief of Staff 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 shall be disclosed to 
the public or postponed for disclosure. 
(6) REMOVAL.—The Chief of Staff shall not be 
removed for reasons other than by a majority vote 
of the Review Board for cause on the grounds of in-
efficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance in office, 
physical disability, mental incapacity, or any other 
condition that substantially impairs the performance 
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of the responsibilities of the Chief of Staff or the 
staff of the Review Board. 
(b) STAFF.— 
(1) ADDITIONAL
PERSONNEL.—The Review 
Board may, in accordance with the civil service laws 
but without regard to civil service law and regulation 
for competitive service as defined in subchapter 1 of 
chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, appoint 
and terminate additional personnel as are necessary 
to enable the Review Board and its Chief of Staff 
to perform its duties. 
(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A person appointed to 
the staff of the Review Board— 
(A) shall be a private citizen of integrity 
and impartiality; 
(B) may not be an employee of the Federal 
Government; and 
(C) shall have had no previous involvement 
with any official investigation or inquiry relat-
ing to the Civil Rights Cold Cases. 
(3) NOMINATIONS.—Before making an appoint-
ment pursuant to paragraph (1), the Review Board 
shall consider individuals recommended by the 
American Historical Association, the Organization of 
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American Historians, the Society of American Archi-
vists, and the American Bar Association. 
(4) SECURITY CLEARANCES.—A candidate shall 
qualify for the necessary security clearance prior to 
being approved by the Review Board. 
(c) COMPENSATION.—The Review Board shall fix the 
compensation of the Chief of Staff and or personnel in 
accordance with title 5, United States Code, except that 
the rate of pay for the Chief of Staff and other personnel 
may not exceed the rate payable for Level V of the Execu-
tive Schedule under section 5316 of that title. 
(d) ADVISORY COMMITTEES.—The Review Board 
shall have the authority to create advisory committees to 
assist in fulfilling the responsibilities of the Review Board 
under this Act. 
SEC. 8. REVIEW OF RECORDS BY THE COLD CASE RECORDS 
REVIEW BOARD. 
(a) CUSTODY
OF RECORDS REVIEWED
BY
THE 
BOARD.—Pending the outcome of the Review Board’s re-
view activity, a Government office shall retain custody of 
its cold case records for purposes of preservation, security, 
and efficiency, unless— 
(1) the Review Board requires the physical 
transfer of records for reasons of conducting an 
independent and impartial review; or 
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(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 
cold case records in the Federal Register; and 
(2) not later than 180 days after the enactment 
of this Act, begin its review of cold case records 
under this Act. 
(c) DETERMINATION OF THE REVIEW BOARD.— 
(1) The Review Board shall direct that all cold 
case records be transmitted to the Archivist and dis-
closed to the public in the Collection in the absence 
of clear and convincing evidence that— 
(A) a Government record is not a cold case 
record; or 
(B) a Government record or particular in-
formation within a cold case record qualifies for 
postponement of public disclosure under this 
Act. 
(2) In approving postponement of public disclo-
sure of a cold case record, the Review Board shall 
work to— 
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(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 cold case record. 
(ii) A substitute record for that infor-
mation which is postponed. 
(iii) A summary of a cold case record. 
(3) With respect to each cold case record or 
particular information in cold case records the public 
disclosure of which is postponed pursuant to section 
5, or for which only substitutions or summaries have 
been disclosed to the public, the Review Board shall 
create and transmit to the Archivist a report con-
taining— 
(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 
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proceedings conducted by the Review Board 
with regard to specific cold case 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) Following its review and a determination 
that a cold case record shall be publicly disclosed in 
the Collection or postponed for disclosure and held 
in the protected Collection, the Review Board shall 
notify the head of the originating body of its deter-
mination and publish a copy of the determination in 
the Federal Register within 14 days after the deter-
mination is made. 
(5) Contemporaneous notice shall be made to 
the President for Review Board determinations re-
garding executive branch cold case 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, in-
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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 cold case records. 
(e) NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC.—Every calendar day, 
beginning 60 days after the Review Board first approves 
the postponement of disclosure of an cold case record, the 
Review Board shall publish in the Federal Register a no-
tice that summarizes the postponements approved by the 
Review Board or initiated by the President, the House of 
Representatives, or the Senate, including a description of 
the subject, originating agency, length or other physical 
description, and each ground for postponement that is re-
lied upon. 
(f) REPORTS BY THE REVIEW BOARD.— 
(1) The Review Board shall report its activities 
to the Speaker, Minority Leader and the Committee 
on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 
of Representatives, and the Majority Leader, Minor-
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ity Leader, and the Committee on Homeland Secu-
rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, the 
President, the Archivist, and the head of any Gov-
ernment office whose records have been the subject 
of Review Board activity. 
(2) The first report shall be issued 1 year after 
the enactment of this Act, and subsequent reports 
shall be issued every 12 months thereafter until ter-
mination of the Review Board. 
(3) A report under paragraph (1) shall include 
the following information: 
(A) A financial report of the expenses for 
all official activities and requirements of the 
Review Board and its personnel. 
(B) The progress made on review, trans-
mission to the Archivist, and public disclosure 
of cold case records. 
(C) The estimated time and volume of cold 
case records involved in the completion of the 
Review Board’s performance under this Act. 
(D) Any special problems, including re-
quests and the level of cooperation of Govern-
ment offices, with regard to the ability of the 
Review Board to operate as required by this 
Act. 
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(E) A record of review activities, including 
a record of postponement decisions by the Re-
view Board or other related actions authorized 
by this Act, and a record of the volume of 
records reviewed and postponed. 
(F) Recommendations and requests to 
Congress for additional authorization. 
(G) An appendix containing copies of re-
ports of postponed records to the Archivist re-
quired under section 8(c)(3) made since the 
date of the preceding report under this sub-
section. 
(4) At least 90 calendar days before completing 
its work, the Review Board shall provide written no-
tice to the President and the Congress of its inten-
tion to terminate its operations at a specified date. 
SEC. 9. DISCLOSURE OF OTHER INFORMATION AND ADDI-
TIONAL STUDY. 
(a) MATERIALS UNDER THE SEAL OF THE COURT.— 
(1) The review board may request the Attorney 
General to petition any court in the United States 
or abroad to release any information relevant to 
Civil Rights related cold cases that is held under 
seal of court. 
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(2) The Review Board may request the Attor-
ney General to petition any court in the United 
States to release any information relevant to Civil 
Rights related cold cases that is held under the in-
junction of secrecy of a grand jury. 
(3) A request for disclosure of Civil Rights cold 
case materials under this Act shall be deemed to 
constitute a showing of particularized need under 
Rule 6 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. 
(4) The Attorney General shall comply with any 
request made subject to provisions of the section 
within 45 days. 
(b) COOPERATION WITH AGENCIES.—It is the sense 
of Congress that— 
(1) the Attorney General shall assist the Review 
Board in good faith to unseal any records that the 
Review Board determines to be relevant and held 
under the seal by a court or under the injunction of 
secrecy of a grand jury; and 
(2) all departments and agencies of the United 
States Government shall cooperate in full with the 
Review Board to seek the disclosure of all informa-
tion relevant to civil rights related cold cases con-
sistent with the public interest. 
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SEC. 10. 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 decisions construing such law, or common law doc-
trine that would otherwise prohibit such transgression or 
disclosure with the exception of deeds governing access to 
or transfer or release of gifts and donations of records 
to the United States Government. 
(b) FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT.—Nothing in 
this Act shall be construed to eliminate or limit any right 
to file any requests with any executive agency or seek judi-
cial 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 sections 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, 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 
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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. 11. 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 6(n). 
(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 
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all Civil Rights Cold Cases records have been made avail-
able to the public in accordance with this Act. 
SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro-
priated such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act, 
to remain available until expended. 
(b) INTERIM PROVISIONS.—Until such time as funds 
are appropriated pursuant to subsection (a), the President 
shall use such sums as are available for discretionary use 
to carry out this Act. 
Æ 
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