I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3152
To provide for the identification, collection, and review for declassification
of records and materials that are of extraordinary public interest to
the people of the United States, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 27, 1999
Mr. GOSS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Intelligence
(Permanent Select), for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To provide for the identification, collection, and review for
declassification of records and materials that are of ex-
traordinary public interest to the people of the United
States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Interest Declas-
sification Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) A comprehensive reform of the management
of the classification and declassification of informa-
tion is essential but will require additional funding,
more technical development, and more coordination
by the executive branch.
(2) The dissemination of declassified records of
permanent historic value that pertain to the national
security of the United States is in the public interest
and can best be accomplished through continued on-
going systematic declassification of classified infor-
mation.
(3) It is in the national interest to establish an
effective, coordinated, and cost-effective means by
which records on specific subjects of extraordinary
public interest may be collected, retained, reviewed,
and disseminated for Congress, policymakers in the
executive branch, and the public.
(4) Ensuring, through such measures, public
access to information that does not require protec-
tions is a key to striking the balance between secrecy
and the openness that is central to the proper func-
tioning of the political institutions of the United
States.
SEC. 3. PUBLIC INTEREST DECLASSIFICATION BOARD.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within
the National Archives and Records Administration a board
to be known as the ‘‘Public Interest Declassification
Board’’ (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Board’’).
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Board are as
follows:
(1) To direct and provide, through rec-
ommendations to the Archivist of the United States,
for the thorough, coordinated, comprehensive, and
cost-effective identification, collection, review for de-
classification, and release to Congress, interested
agencies, and the public of records and materials
(including donated historical materials) that are of
extraordinary public interest.
(2) To provide Congress, interested agencies,
and the public with the fullest possible access to a
thorough, accurate, and reliable documentary record
of significant United States national security deci-
sions and significant United States national security
activities in order to—
(A) support the oversight and legislative
functions of Congress;
(B) support the policymaking role of the
executive branch;
(C) respond to the interest of the public in
national security matters; and
(D) promote reliable historical analysis and
new avenues of historical study in national se-
curity matters.
(c) MEMBERSHIP.—(1)(A) The Board shall be com-
posed of nine individuals appointed by the President from
among citizens of the United States who are preeminent
in the fields of history, national security, foreign policy,
social science, law, or archives, including individuals who
have served in Congress or otherwise in Federal Govern-
ment or have otherwise engaged in research, scholarship,
or publication in such fields on matters relating to the na-
tional security of the United States.
(B) The President shall appoint members of the
Board after consideration of recommendations made by
appropriate organizations, including the American Histor-
ical Association, the Organization of American Historians,
the American Political Science Association, the Society of
American Archivists, the American Society of Inter-
national Law, the Standing Committee on Law and Na-
tional Security of the American Bar Association, and the
Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations.
(C) An officer or employee of the Federal Govern-
ment may not serve as a member of the Board.
(2)(A) Of the members initially appointed to the
Board, three shall be appointed for a term of three years,
three shall be appointed for a term of two years, and three
shall be appointed for a term of one year.
(B) Any subsequent appointment to the Board shall
be for a term of three years.
(3) A vacancy in the Board shall be filled in the same
manner as the original appointment. A member of the
Board appointed to fill a vacancy before the expiration of
a term shall serve for the remainder of the term.
(4) A member of the Board may continue to serve
on the Board when the member’s term expires until a suc-
cessor is appointed.
(5) A member of the Board may be appointed to a
new term on the Board upon the expiration of the mem-
ber’s term on the Board, except that no member may serve
more than three full terms on the Board.
(d) CHAIRPERSON; EXECUTIVE SECRETARY.—(1)(A)
The President shall designate one of the members of the
Board as the chairperson of the Board.
(B) The term of service as chairperson of the Board
shall be one year.
(C) A member serving as chairperson of the Board
may be re-designated as chairperson of the Board upon
sified records or materials of the agency under this Act,
require the member or staff to—
(A) execute an agreement regarding the secu-
rity of such records or materials that is approved by
the head of the agency; and
(B) hold an appropriate security clearance
granted or recognized under the standard procedures
and eligibility criteria of the agency, including any
special access approval required for access to such
records or materials.
(3) Members and staff of the Board may not use any
information acquired in the course of their official activi-
ties on the Board for nonofficial purposes.
(4) For purposes of any law or regulation governing
access to classified information that pertains to the na-
tional security of the United States, and subject to any
limitations on access arising under section 6(c), a member
of the Board seeking access to a record or material under
this paragraph shall be deemed to have a need to know
the contents of the record or material.
(h) COMPENSATION.—(1) Each member of the Board
shall receive compensation at a rate not to exceed the daily
equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay payable for posi-
tions at SES–1 of the Senior Executive Service under sec-
tion 5382 of title 5, United States Code, for each day such
member is engaged in the actual performance of duties
of the Board.
(2) Members of the Board shall be allowed travel ex-
penses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence at rates
authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter 1
of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away
from their homes or regular places of business in the per-
formance of the duties of the Board.
(i) GUIDANCE; ANNUAL BUDGET.—(1) On behalf of
the President, the Assistant to the President for National
Security Affairs shall provide guidance on policy and secu-
rity matters to the Board, including guidance and prac-
tices on security under subsection (g)(1).
(2) The Archivist of the United States shall, in con-
sultation with the Assistant to the President for National
Security Affairs and the Director of the Office of Manage-
ment and Budget, prepare the annual budget for the
Board.
(j) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY
OF RECORDS
AND RE-
PORTS.—(1) The Board shall make available for public in-
spection records of its proceedings and reports prepared
in the course of its activities under this Act to the extent
such records and reports are not classified and would not
be exempt from release under the provisions of section 552
of title 5, United States Code.
(2) In making records and reports available under
paragraph (1), the Board shall coordinate the release of
such records and reports with appropriate officials from
agencies with expertise in classified information in order
to ensure that such records and reports do not inadvert-
ently contain classified information.
(k) INAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The provisions of
the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall
not apply to the activities of the Board under this Act.
SEC. 4. IDENTIFICATION, COLLECTION, AND REVIEW FOR
DECLASSIFICATION OF INFORMATION OF EX-
TRAORDINARY PUBLIC INTEREST.
(a) RECOMMENDATIONS.—(1) The Board may rec-
ommend to the Archivist of the United States that an
agency or Federal Presidential library be directed to carry
out an activity specified in paragraph (2) with respect to
records or materials that the Board determines are
records or materials (including donated historical mate-
rials) of extraordinary public interest for purposes of the
release of such records or materials to the public or the
provision of such records or materials to Congress or pol-
icymakers in the executive branch.
(2) The activities that may be recommended by the
Board under paragraph (1) are the following:
(A) Identification of records or materials.
(B) Collection of records or materials.
(C) Review for declassification of records or
materials.
(D) Any combination of activities specified in
subparagraphs (A) through (C).
(3) In making recommendations under paragraph
(1), the Board shall consider the following:
(A) The opinions and requests of Members of
Congress, including opinions and requests expressed
or embodied in letters or legislative proposals.
(B) The opinions and requests of the National
Security Council and of the heads of agencies.
(C) The opinions of United States citizens.
(D) The opinions of individual members of the
Board.
(E) In the case of unscheduled or temporary
records or materials, the assessment of the Archivist
of the United States as to the value of identifying,
collecting, and conducting declassification reviews of
such records or materials.
(4) The Board shall, subject to the policy, budgetary,
and security guidance provided under section 3, establish
such priorities as the Board considers appropriate for pur-
poses of this section.
(5) The Board should establish liaisons, and may con-
sult, with such other historical advisory committees, in-
cluding panels and boards created under statute, or agen-
cy directive, concerned with the identification, collection,
and review for declassification of classified information as
the Board considers appropriate for purposes of this Act.
(b) ORDERS.—(1) The Archivist of the United States,
or the designee of the Archivist, shall, in consultation with
the Assistant to the President for National Security Af-
fairs, consider each recommendation made by the Board
under subsection (a).
(2) If the Archivist accepts a recommendation of the
Board under subsection (a), the Archivist shall order that
the actions contained in the recommendation be taken.
(3) If the Archivist does not accept a recommendation
of the Board under subsection (a), the Board shall notify
Congress of the lack of acceptance of the recommendation
in a report under section 6(f)(2).
(c) COMPLIANCE WITH ORDERS.—(1) Except as oth-
erwise provided in section 5(a) or 6(c), and subject to the
availability of funds under section 8, an agency or Federal
Presidential library shall comply with an order made to
the agency or library, as the case may be, under subsection
(b).
(2)(A) If an order to an agency or Federal Presi-
dential library under subsection (b) requires a review for
declassification of records or materials originated by an-
other agency, the agency or library, as the case may be,
shall refer such records or materials to such other agency
for review in accordance with the order.
(B) The actions of an agency referred records or ma-
terials under subparagraph (A) shall be subject to the
terms of the order relating to such records or materials
and to limitations relating to funding under section 8.
(3)(A) The Board shall, through the head of an agen-
cy or Federal Presidential library given an order under
subsection (b), provide oversight of any identification, col-
lection, or review of records or materials ordered under
that subsection.
(B) In providing oversight of identification, collection,
or review under this paragraph, the Board shall, in con-
sultation with the Archivist of the United States, take ap-
propriate actions to ensure that such activities preserve
the archival integrity of the records or materials involved.
(d) RELEASE OF UNCLASSIFIED AND DECLASSIFIED
INFORMATION.—An agency or Federal Presidential li-
brary that undertakes a review for declassification of
records or materials under an order under this section
shall release any unclassified records or materials identi-
fied, or classified records or materials that are declas-
sified, as a result of the review.
SEC. 5. PROTECTION OF NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMA-
TION AND OTHER INFORMATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act shall be con-
strued to limit the authority of the head of an agency to
classify information or to continue the classification of in-
formation previously classified by an agency.
(b) SPECIAL ACCESS PROGRAMS.—Nothing in this
Act shall be construed to limit the authority of the head
of an agency to grant or deny access to a special access
program.
(c) EXEMPTIONS AND EXCEPTIONS TO RELEASE OF
INFORMATION.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to
limit any exemption or exception to the release to the pub-
lic under this Act of information that is protected under
section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code (commonly
referred to as the Freedom of Information Act), or section
552a of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred
to as the Privacy Act).
(d) 
WITHHOLDING
INFORMATION
FROM
CON-
GRESS.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to author-
ize the withholding of information from Congress.
SEC. 6. STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES FOR IDENTIFICA-
TION, COLLECTION, AND REVIEW OF INFOR-
MATION.
(a) STANDARDS AND PROCEDURES.—(1) Not later
than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
each agency and Federal Presidential library that pos-
sesses or controls classified records or materials shall de-
velop standards and procedures for access to such records
and materials by the Board and by the employee of such
agency or library, as the case may be, designated to serve
as liaison to the Board under subsection (b).
(2) The standards and procedures developed by an
agency or Federal Presidential library under paragraph
(1) shall include provisions to achieve the following:
(A) To forward to the Board for its consider-
ation under this Act any request, or if appropriate
notice of a request, other than a request under sec-
tion 552 or 552a of title 5, United States Code,
from outside the agency or library, as the case may
be, for the identification, collection, or review for de-
classification of records or materials, or for other
provision with respect to records or materials, that
are records or materials of extraordinary public in-
terest.
(B) To coordinate with the Board in estab-
lishing priorities for the identification, collection,
and review of records and materials under orders
under section 4(b).
(C) To provide that the employee who is des-
ignated as the liaison to the Board—
(i) is designated in consultation with the
Board; and
(ii) is eligible under the procedures and eli-
gibility criteria of the agency or library, as the
case may be, for access to any records and ma-
terials covered by an order under section 4(b).
(D) To permit access by the employee des-
ignated to serve as the liaison to the Board to any
classified records or materials originated or con-
trolled by the agency or library, as the case may be,
to which access has not been denied or restricted
under subsection (c), which has not otherwise been
exempted from review under that subsection or
under this Act, or that are not controlled under a
special access program to which the head of the
agency has denied or restricted access.
(E) To permit access by members and staff of
the Board to records or materials covered by an
order under section 4(b) to which access has not
been denied or restricted under subsection (c), which
has not otherwise been exempted from review under
that subsection or under this Act, or that are not
controlled under a special access program to which
the head of the agency has denied or restricted ac-
cess.
(F) To notify the Board of the completion of
compliance with an order under section 4(b), includ-
ing instances when access to records or materials is
denied or restricted under subsection (c) or records
or materials are otherwise exempted from review
under that subsection or under this Act.
(b) DESIGNATION OF LIAISON TO BOARD.—The head
of each agency and Federal Presidential library shall des-
ignate an employee of such agency or library, as the case
may be, to act as liaison to the Board for purposes of
this Act.
(c) LIMITATIONS ON ACCESS.—If the head of an
agency or Federal Presidential library determines it nec-
essary to deny or restrict access by the Board, or by the
agency or library liaison to the Board, to information con-
tained in a record or material, in whole or in part, or to
exempt any record or material from identification, collec-
tion, or review under this Act, the head of the agency or
library, as the case may be, shall promptly notify the
Board in writing of such determination. Each such notice
shall include a description of the nature of the records or
materials, and a justification for the determination, cov-
ered by such notice.
(d) RECONSIDERATION.—(1) The Board may request
the reconsideration by the head of an agency or Federal
Presidential library of a determination made by the head
of the agency or library, as the case may be, under sub-
section (c). Such a request may not be made sooner than
two years after the date of the determination in question.
(2) To accommodate a request under paragraph (1)
for reconsideration of a determination regarding records
or materials, the head of the agency or Federal Presi-
dential library making the determination shall maintain
an appropriate record of the results of any review of the
records or materials covered by the determination and, to
the extent records and materials have been identified as
part of the review upon which the determination is based,
shall tag, index, physically set aside, or otherwise enable
the ready retrieval of such records or materials.
(e) DISCRETION TO DISCLOSE.—At the conclusion of
a declassification review, or upon a request by the Board
for reevaluation under subsection (c), the head of an agen-
cy or Federal Presidential library may, in his discretion,
determine that the public’s interest in disclosure of records
or materials covered by such review or request, and still
properly classified, outweighs the Government’s need to
protect such records or materials. In such case, the head
of the agency or library, as the case may be, may release
such records or materials.
(f) REPORTS.—(1) The Board shall annually submit
to the appropriate congressional committees a report on
the activities of the Board under this Act.
(2) The Board shall submit to the appropriate con-
gressional committees a report on the following:
(A) Any denial by the head of an agency or
Federal Presidential library of access for the Board
to records or materials under this Act.
(B) Any failure or refusal by the Archivist of
the United States to accept a recommendation of the
Board under section 4(a).
(3) In this subsection, the term ‘‘appropriate congres-
sional committees’’ means the Select Committee on Intel-
ligence of the Senate and the Permanent Select Committee
on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.
SEC. 7. JUDICIAL REVIEW.
Nothing in this Act limits the protection afforded to
any information under any other provisions of law. This
Act is not intended and should not be construed to create
any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable
at law against the United States, its agencies, its officers,
or its employees. This Act does not modify in any way
the substantive criteria or procedures for the classification
of information, nor does this Act create any right or ben-
efit subject to judicial review.
SEC. 8. FUNDING.
(a) FUNDING REQUESTS.—The President shall in-
clude in the budget submission to Congress for each fiscal
year under section 1105 of title 31, United States Code,
a request for amounts for the activities of the Board under
this Act during such fiscal year, including amounts to be
transferred to agencies and Federal Presidential libraries
for activities in compliance with orders under section 4.
Such amounts shall be included in amounts requested for
the National Archives and Records Administration for the
fiscal year concerned, and shall be stated as a separate
item among the amounts requested for the Administration
for such fiscal year.
(b) ESTIMATE
OF
AGENCY
AND
LIBRARY
EX-
PENSES.—(1)(A) An agency or Federal Presidential li-
brary receiving an order from the Archivist of the United
States under section 4(b) shall provide the Board an esti-
mate of the costs, and of the time, required for compliance
with the order.
(B) If an order covers records or materials to be re-
ferred to another agency for review under section 4(c)(2),
the estimate under this paragraph shall include, and shall