[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 8, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 7506-7508]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-3112]
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ASSASSINATION RECORDS REVIEW BOARD
36 CFR Part 1400
Guidance on Interpreting and Implementing the President John F.
Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992
AGENCY: Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB).
ACTION: Proposed interpretive regulation.
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SUMMARY: The ARRB proposes to issue regulations providing guidance on
the interpretation of certain terms defined in and the implementation
of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act
of 1992.
DATES: To be considered, comments must be received on or before March
10, 1995.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be mailed to the Assassination Records
Review Board at 600 E Street, NW, Second floor, Washington, D.C. 20530
or delivered in person to that address between the hours of 9:30 a.m.
and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (except legal holidays). Comments
may also be faxed to the Board at (202) 724-0457. Comments received may
be inspected in the Board's public reading room, located at the address
shown above, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday (except
legal holidays). Persons wishing to inspect comments in the Board's
public reading room should call the Board's office beforehand at (202)
724-0088 for further information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sheryl L. Walter (General Counsel), (202) 724-0088.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act
of 1992, 44 U.S.C. 2107 note (as amended) (ARCA), established the
President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection (the JFK
Collection) at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
In establishing the process for public disclosure of all records
relating to the assassination, Congress created an independent agency
within the executive branch, the Assassination Records Review Board
(the Board), which consists of five citizens appointed by the
President. Under the statute, the Board is empowered to decide
``whether a record constitutes an assassination record.'' 44 U.S.C.
2107 note, Sec. 7(i)(2)(A). Congress further made clear its intent that
the Board ``issue guidance to assist in articulating the scope or
universe of assassination records.'' President John F. Kennedy
Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, S.Rep. 102-328, 102d
Cong., 2d Sess. (1992) at 21.
In constructing the proposed guidance set out here, the Board seeks
to implement congressional intent that the JFK Collection contain ``the
most comprehensive disclosure of records related to the assassination
of President Kennedy.'' Id. at 18. The Board is also mindful of
Congress's instruction that the Board apply a ``broad and
encompassing'' working definition of ``assassination record'' in order
to achieve the goal of assembling the fullest historical record on this
tragic event in American history and on the investigations that were
undertaken in the assassination's aftermath. The Board recognizes that
many agencies have already begun to organize and review records
responsive to the ARCA even before the Board was appointed and began
its work. Nevertheless, the Board's aim is that this guidance will aid
in the ultimate assembly and public [[Page 7507]] disclosure of the
fullest possible historical record on this tragedy and on subsequent
investigations and inquires into it.
The Board's proposed guidance is designed to help government
agencies and the Board identify and make available to the public all
documents that will enhance, enrich, and broaden the historical record
of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The Board seeks
through this guidance to fulfill Congress's ``inten[t] and emphasis
that the search and disclosure of records under this Act must go
beyond'' the records of previous commissions and committees established
to investigate President Kennedy's assassination. Id. at 21. The Board
also seeks to provide notice of the scope of its intended exercise of
authority to seek additional information or records in order to fulfill
its functions and responsibilities under the ARCA.
In addition, the Board proposes to create a mechanism to facilitate
the Board's ongoing work and to further ensure future public access to
the broadest possible historical record. This mechanism will be known
as the ``Catalog of Assassination Records'' (COAR). The COAR is
intended to be an official listing of all records determined by the
Board to meet the definition of ``assassination record'' and included
in the JFK Collection.
Request for Comments
The Board seeks public comment on its proposed interpretive
regulations intended to provide guidance on the interpretation of the
term assassination record, the intended scope of its exercise of
authority to seek additional information or records, and its additional
proposals for implementation of the ARCA.
List of Subjects in 36 CFR Part 1400
Administrative practice and procedure, Archives and records.
Accordingly, the Assassination Records Review Board hereby proposes
to establish a new chapter XIV in title 36 of the Code of Federal
Regulations to read as follows:
CHAPTER XIV--ASSASSINATION RECORDS REVIEW BOARD
PART 1400--GUIDANCE FOR INTERPRETATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS COLLECTION ACT OF
1992 (ARCA)
Sec.
1400.1 Interpretation of assassination record.
1400.2 Interpretation of additional records and information.
1400.3 Sources of assassination records and additional records and
information.
1400.4 Types of materials included in scope of assassination record
and additional records and information.
1400.5 Requirement that assassination records be released in their
entirely.
1400.6 Originals and copies.
1400.7 Additional guidance.
1400.8 Implementing the ARCA--Catalog of Assassination Records
Authority: 44 U.S.C. 2107 note.
Sec. 1400.1 Interpretation of assassination record.
(a) An assassination record includes, but is not limited to, all
records, public and private, regardless of how labeled or identified,
that document, describe, report, analyze, or interpret activities and
events that may have led to the assassination of President John F.
Kennedy; the assassination itself; and investigations of or inquiries
into the assassination.
(b) An assassination record further includes, without limitation:
(1) All records as defined in Sec. 3(2) of the ARCA;
(2) All records called by or segregated by all federal, state, and
local government agencies in conjunction with any investigation or
analysis of or inquiry into the assassination of President Kennedy (for
example, any intra-agency investigation or analysis of or inquiry into
the assassination; any inter-agency communication regarding the
assassination; any request by the House Select Committee on
Assassinations to collect documents and other materials; or any inter-
or intra-agency collection or segregation of documents and other
materials);
(3) Other records or groups of records listed in the Catalog of
Assassination Records, as described in Sec. 1400.8 of this chapter.
Sec. 1400.2 Interpretation of additional records and information.
The term additional information and records includes:
(a) All documents used by government offices and agencies during
their declassification review of assassination records as well as all
other documents, indices, records, and other material that disclose
cryptonyms, code names, or other identification material in
assassination records.
(b) All training manuals, instructional materials, and guidelines
created or used by the agencies in furtherance of their review of
assassination records.
(c) All records, lists, and documents describing the procedure by
which the agencies identified or selected assassination records for
review.
(d) Organizational charts of government agencies.
(e) Records necessary and sufficient to describe the agency's:
(1) Records policies and schedules;
(2) Filing systems and organization; and
(3) Storage facilities and locations.
Sec. 1400.3 Sources of assassination records and additional records
and information.
Assassination records and additional records and information may be
located at, or under the control of, without limitation:
(a) Agencies, offices, and entities of the executive, legislative,
and judicial branches of the federal government;
(b) Agencies, offices, and entities of the executive, legislative,
and judicial branches of state and local governments;
(c) Record repositories and archives of federal, state, and local
governments, including presidential libraries;
(d) Record repositories and archives of universities, libraries,
historical societies, and other similar organizations;
(e) Individuals who possess such records by virtue of service with
a government agency, office, or entity;
(f) Persons, including individuals and corporations, who have
obtained such records from sources identified in paragraphs (a) through
(e) of this section;
(g) Federal, state, and local courts where such records are being
held under seal; or
(h) Foreign governments.
Sec. 1400.4 Types of materials included in scope of assassination
record and additional records and information.
The term record in assassination record and additional records and
information includes, for purposes of interpreting and implementing the
ARCA:
(a) Papers, maps, and other documentary material;
(b) Photographs;
(c) Motion pictures;
(d) Sound and video recordings;
(e) Machine readable information in any form; and [[Page 7508]]
(f) Artifacts.
Sec. 1400.5 Requirement that assassination records be released in
their entirety.
An assassination record shall be disclosed in its entirety except
for portions specifically postponed pursuant to the grounds for
postponement of public disclosure of records established in section 6
of the ARCA, and no portions of any assassination records shall be
withheld from public disclosure solely on grounds of non-relevance.
Sec. 1400.6 Originals and copies.
(a) For purposes of determining whether originals or copies of
assassination records may be made part of the President John F. Kennedy
Assassination Records Collection (the JFK Records Collection) to be
established under the ARCA:
(1) In the case of papers, maps, and other documentary material,
the Assassination Records Review Board (the Board) may determine that a
true and accurate copy of the original is sufficient;
(2) In the case of photographs, the term record means the original
negative if available, otherwise, the earliest generation print;
(3) In the case of motion pictures, the term record means the
camera original if available, otherwise, the earliest generation print;
(4) In the case of sound and video recordings, the term record
means the original recording, if available, otherwise, the earliest
generation copy;
(5) In the case of machine-readable information, the Board may
determine that a true and accurate copy of the original is sufficient;
and
(6) Artifacts means the original object itself.
(b) In cases where a copy, as defined in paragraph (a) of this
section is authorized by the Board to be included in the JFK Records
Collection the Board may, at its discretion, require a certified copy.
In cases where an original, as defined in paragraph (a) of this
section, is required for inclusion in the JFK Records Collection the
Board may, at its discretion, accept the best available copy.
Sec. 1400.7 Additional guidance.
(a) A government agency, office, or entity includes, for purposes
of interpreting and implementing the ARCA, all departments, agencies,
offices, divisions, foreign offices, bureaus, and deliberative bodies
of any federal, state, or local government and includes all inter- or
intra-agency working groups, committees, and meetings that possess or
created records relating to the assassination of President John F.
Kennedy.
(b) The inclusion of artifacts in the scope of the term
assassination record is understood to apply solely for purposes of
establishing the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records
Collection and for fully implementing the terms of the ARCA and has no
direct or indirect bearing on the interpretation or implementation of
any other statute or regulation.
(c) In the case of artifacts deemed to be assassination records and
included in the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection,
provision to the public of photographs, drawings, or similar materials
depicting the artifacts shall be sufficient to comply with the ARCA's
requirement that copies of assassination records be provided to the
public upon request. Other display to or examination by the public of
artifacts in the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection shall
occur under terms and conditions established by the National Archives
and Records Administration that are adequate to preserve and protect
the artifacts for posterity.
(d) The terms and, or, any, all, and the plural and singular forms
of nouns shall be understood in their broadcast and most inclusive
sense and shall not be understood to be terms of limitation. Any
records identified with respect to a particular person also includes
any records for that person by any other name, pseudonym, codeword,
symbol, number, cryptonym or alias. Any record described with respect
to an operation or program includes any record pertaining to that
program by any other name, pseudonym, codeword, symbol, number or
cryptonym.
Sec. 1400.8 Implementing the ARCA--Catalog of Assassination Records.
(a) A Catalog of Assassination Records (COAR) shall be created as
the official listing of all records determined by the Board to meet the
definition of assassination record.
(b) Notice of all decisions to include records in the COAR will be
published in the Federal Register within 30 days of the decision.
(c) In listing records or groups of records in the COAR, the Board
must determine that the record or group of records will more likely
than not enhance, enrich, and broaden the historical record of the
assassination.
Dated: February 3, 1995.
David G. Marwell,
Executive Director, Assassination Records Review Board.
[FR Doc. 95-3112 Filed 2-7-95; 8:45 am]
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