104-10331-10263 - Jun- ee a7 OS: 35P" Congressional Affairs 703-482-4476 P.Ol ‘Ollie Congi ' Alas CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY UNCLASSIFIED FACSIMILE TRANSMITTAL FORM DATE: 2 June 1997 NO. OF PAGES qi TO: Ed. Cohen FAX; 703-613-302 Lee Strickland ; 703-613-3007 FROM: [| | > cxasoca (Phone: 703-482-8824) COMMENTS : vw EW DEXDLEINE Foe RES AASES iS c.0-. B 3 INuE T7~
" gun-02-97 '05:35P Congressional Affairs 703-482-4476 & Ollice of a Congressional © Altaus CENTRAL INTELLEG ENCE AGENCY UNCLASSIFIED FACSIMILE TRANSMITTAL FORM DATE: 2 June 1997 NO. OF PAGES i1 TO: Ll Pp “FAX: 703-874-32 : _703-874- FROM: 7 CIA/OCA (FAX: 703-428-5841) ~~ (Phone: 703-482-8824) COMMENTS: Please make an additional copy for Bruce Burke. Thanks.
» 1 s ° © ‘ - e : Jun +02 - -97 O5:35P. Congressional Affairs 703- 482-4476 P.03 =“ JUN-02-1997 09:54 TO:21 - CIA FROM:GIBBONS, M. PB 1/1o Total Pages: LRM ID: JAW106 EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT ‘OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET Washington, 0.C. 20503-0001 Friday, May 36, 1997 . - LEGISLATIVE REFERRAL MEMORANDUM TO: Legislative Liaison Officer - See Distribution below FROM: James J. Jukes (for) Assistant Director for Legislative Reference OMB CONTACT: Mi. Jill Gibbons ™ PHONE: (202)395-7593 FAX: (202}39§-3109 SUBJECT: National Archives and Records Administration Testimony on HR1553 _ , Extension of the Authorization far the Aasassination Records Review Board K DEAOLINE: 2PM Manday, June 2, 1997 in accordance with OMB Ciccular A-18, OMB requasts the views of your agency on the above subject before advising on ite relationship to the program of the President. Please advise us if this lier will affect direct apending or receipts for purposes of the “Pay- ~As-You-Go" provisions of Title Xi of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990. COMMENTS: A copy of HR 1553 Is anciosed. DISTRIBUTION LIST AGENCIES: | | stove, 29-DEFENSE - Samuel T. Brick Jr. - (703) 697-1305 — (PS O cra | 51-General Services Administration - William R. Ratchford - (202) 501-0563 61-JUSTICE - Andrew Fois.- (202) 514-2141 NSc EOP: 4 Robert W. Schroeder Ken Schwartz Louisa Koch Kim Newman Maya Bernstein dulie L. Heas Jim Murr ~ Shue Artben
rs ' e, r eo a « Wun-G2-97 O5:35P Congressional Affairs 7O3-482-4476 " +“ JUN-02-1997 09:54 70:21 - CIA FROM:GIBBONS, M. . . P. 3/10 Statement: of Steven D. Tilley, Chief of the Access and Freedom of Information Staff National Archives and Records Administration Boforo the Subcomunittee on National Security, International Affairs, and Criminal Justice Committee on Govemment Reform and Oversight House of Representatives June 4, 1907 Mr. Chairman, I am Steven D. Tilley, Chiefof the Access and Freedom of Information Act Steff of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). I wich to thank you for the | opportunity to testify today on behalf of NARA in support of H.R. 1553, which will extend the authorization of the John F. Kennedy Astacsination Records Review Roard for one year to September 30, 1998. I am appearing today in my capuuity a3 NARA's Chief of the Prosidant John F. Kennedy Assassimation Records Collection. In that role I am charged with implementing NARA‘s responsibilities under the Act and I serve as NARA’s fisison to the Astassination Records Review Board (ARRB). This afternoon I would like to tell you a little bit of my background concerning records of the accacsinatian nf President Keanedy, explain the role of NARA. in implementing the Act, and outline why the National Archives and Records Administration supports passage of this important piece of legislation. * Mr, Chairman, my career ae an archivist has involved working with some of the most sensitive and highly clascified records of our Goverment. | oversaw the closing of the office of the Watergate Special Prosecution Furce (WSPF) and supervised tho transfer of thece records to the | National Archives in 1977. 1 worked with the recorda of the WSPF tor more than 11 years, P.lO4 .
. é ‘ ° s a es * . Jun-Q2797 O5:36P Congressional Affairs 703-482-4476 ~ JUN-02-1997 09:54 TO:21-- CIA FROM:GIBBONS, M. & P. 4/19 Nar serving for most of thut tiae as the senior archivist for thase records. I also eerved ac the senior archivist for the records of the National Security Council (NSC) following the transfer of the NSC records of the Truman and Eisenhower Administrations in 1983. In 1989 I joined the staff of the National Security Council, where I served as Director of Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act Activities and later as NSC’s Director of Information Disclosure with responsibility for all disclosure activilios ofthe NSC. In 1993, I retuned to NARA to becom the Chief of the JFK Collection, and ] have servod in that capacity ever since. I hecame the Chief of the Acucss uu! FOIA. Staff in January of this year. Under the JFK Act, NARA hed several major responsibilities. Three of these requirements, . luawever, proved to be central to the work of the Assassination Records Reviaw Roard. Our first responsibility was to formally establish the President John F. Kennedy Assusaination Records Collection which we accomplished with the publication of an announcement in the Federal Register on December 21, 1992. As established on that date, the Collection only consisted of open records already in NARA‘s custody, primarily the records of the Warren Commission. | Secondly, within 45 days of the statute being sigued, NARA was required to prepare and make available standard identification forms for use by all government offices in describing assassination records and to create a database of these forms to serve as an electronic finding aid to the JEK Collection. Our third responcibility, which we shared with other government offices, was to identify, review, and make available to the public all assassination records thst could be disclosed — under the provisions of tho law within a 300 day review periad | Descriptions of all records ; reviewed were required to be entered into the database whore they would be mado widely available to the public.
« t oat ° : ' * ‘ dur a2~ 97 05:36P Congressional Affairs « 703-482-4476 jun- 02-1937 03: 04 TO:21 - CIA . FROM:GIBBONS, M, ra ‘P; 5/10 At the cnd of the revicw posiod in August 1993, newly released records were made availahle for research, includmg most of Lee Harvey Oswald's 201 Personality file, part of the Central Intelligence Agency's “segregated collection” of assassination related documents, and the records | of the House Select Committee on Assassinations. The database was also available for use by researchers on that day. When the ARRB members were confirmed by the Senate in April, 1994, ary staff and I began to work with the Board and later with the Board's staff, to provide information on the records in. | the Collection at that time, the development and use of the database, our contacts and discussions with other agencies involved in searches for assassination related documents, and the existence of assassination records in the custody of private repositories or individuals. The ARRB and NARA | have maintained an excellent working relationship Wuough the 3 years of the Board’s existence, and I wauld like to think that thia close relationship has in same way contributed to the success of the ARRB. NARA enthusiastically supports paseage of H.R. 1553 to extend the ARRB's authonzation. Our mission is not unilke that of the ARRB . to ensure roady access to ossontial dooumontary evidence. In the Boerd’s case the essential evidence is any records relating to the assassination of: President Kennedy. In our case essential evidence consists of all federal and presidential records that document the rights of American citizens, the actions of federal officials, and the national oxperieace. The Review Board needs the time designated in this bill to complete its important work in making available as completo un historical recocd as possible concerning the
eS i OS: VUNGOZ- 97 36P_ Congressional Affairs 703-482-4476 JUN-02-1997 09:54 T0:2) - Cla FROM:GIBBONS, M, assassinauon of President Kennady. Wo would like to offer for your consideration some statiatios and facts to demonstrate the success of the Hoard and support its one-year extension, The John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection today bears little resemblance to the Collection that was established in December 1992. At that time, the Collection consisted of approximately 450 oubia foct of records from a few agencies. Today, the Collection has grawn to more than 1,600 cuhic feet of records or 3.75 million pages from more than 30 diffrent government offices. Those numbers are a testament to the work of the Review Board in obtaining the cooperation of the entire Federal government in this important task, The ARRB has not only succeeded in obtaining the cooperation of the Federal agencies but has also negotiated the donation of very important recards dist were previously held in private hands. Donations have included the related papers of James Garrison and Edward Wegmann, the prosecutor and defense attomey in the conspiracy trial of Clay Shaw, and the papers of J. Lee Rankin. the General Counsel and Chief of Staff of the Warren Commission. Copies of the. papers of Senator Richard Russell, a member of the Warren Commission, that were donated to the University of Georgia are being reviewed und wa bope will be made part of the Collection in the near future with the agreement of the University. For the information df the Committes, Mr. Chairman, I have attached to my testimony a copy of the Register of the Collection, which lists the major groups of Federal recorde and private papers, along with the cupplemental listing of FBI | files.
ea ‘ a’? Fr) & a. t . «, dum-G2-97 O5:36P Congressional Affairs 703-482-4476 Plog JUN-02-1997 09:54°T0:21 ~ CIA FROM:GIBBONS, M, P. 7/19 . ; « if oS Not only tins the CoRestion increased dramatically in size, the significance of the recorde in the Collection carinot be overestimated: [n addition to the recards of numerous HKxecutive branch agencies and offices, the records of relevant Congressional committees, related court cases, and records donated by private entities arc availeble in the Collection.. This rich documentation is searchable electronically, giving researchers the ability to seck out documents concerning a topic, | Porson, us cyeat, of cven individual documents, not oaly at NARA"s College Park facility, but from their own personal computer through the imemet. Kqually important, the Collection provides researchers with a view of how our goverment worked during thie period in history, 85 the documents refiect not only the operations of government as the offices and agencies reacted to the death of the President but also how these offices and agencies were operating in regard to : other events that are related to the assassination, such as the campaign to destabilize the government of Cuba or the FBI's mvestigation of various organized crime figures. Pethimps this . | unique window on the operations of these agencies may be the most important result of the development of the Collection. Turthermore, the Collection continues to grow. Additional FBI records will he added in the weeks and months ahead. Records of the Deparmments of the Army and Navy and the Joint Chiefs of Staff are currently under reviow. The addition of these records will only add to the richness of the Collection and increase its value to the geaoral research community. Public demand for those records is the ultimate evidence of the the value af tha Caltection. Reforence requests have risen in number every year since the Cullouliuu ypened with new records in August 1993. This year we have already received close to 600 written inquiries, an increase of
a’s és ‘ ® € JuniG2-97 O5:37P. Congressional Affairs 703-482-4476 ! ++ JUN-02-1997 09:54 10:21 --cIA FROM:GIBBONS, M > din : « OF G) 30% over this time last year. The number of inquiries an aur computer website is also steadily increasing. Since March, 1996 when the Cullection was made available through tho NARA website, the assassination records have been accessed over 100,000 times by the public. Many of the written inquiries we receive include copies of record identification forms taken from the database, showing that the researcher has accessed our website and downloaded information. The availability of the databace via the Internet remains one of the most important developments that have come from this process, Due to the exceptional work of the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board, great progress bas been made on making available as complete a record es possible on the history of the aseaccination of John Kennedy. Without the focus, integrity, and excportice of the ARRB, the Collection wuuld uot bave the size, quality, or public demand witacesed today. However, there ic still much to do. NARA supports passage of H.R. 1593 so that this important work can be corapleted. -
“ ¢@ “ q ¢ e. - eS e .Y a “, . . Jdum-O2-97 OS:37P Congressional Affairs 703-482-4476 -- PlL1O JUN-02-1997 09:54 TO:21 - CIA FROM:GIBBONS, P. 9/10 \ 105TH CONGRESS _ ° nese WOR, 1553 To amend the President Join F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 to extend the authorization of the Assassination Records Review Board until September 30, 1998. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES "May 8, 1997 Mr. BuRTON of Indiana (for himself, Mr. Waxaiax, and Mr. Sroxes) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Govern- ment Reform and Oversight, and. in addition to the Committee on the Ju- diciary, for 2 period to be subsequently determined by the Spcaker, in each cuse for consideration of cuch provisions as full within the juriedic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 to extend the authoriza- tion of the Assassination Records Review Board yntil | September 30, 1998. | 1 - .Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represenia- 2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
° : é 2 . s “ gun- ‘02-97 OS: 37P. Congressional Affairs -703- 482-4476 PLL ; 2" JUN-02-1997 09:54 TO:21 - CIA FROM:GIBBONS, M. P10/10 0 2 1 SECTION 1. EXTENSION. OF AUTHORIZATION OF ASSAS- SINATION RECORDS REVIEW BOARD. 2 3. The President John F. Kennedy Assassination 4 Records Collection Act of 1992 (44 U.S.C. 2107 note) is 5 amended— 6- (1) in section 7(0)(1), by striking “September 7 30, 1996” and all that follows through the end of 8 the paragraph and inserting “September 30, 1998.”: 9 and . 10 (2) im section 13(a), by striking ‘‘such sums” 11 and all that follows through “‘expended”’ and insert- 12 ing “to carry out the provisions of this Act 13 $1,600,000 for fiscal year 1998”. | 0) -AR 1668 0A