105th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 235
To amend title 5, United States Code, and the National Security Act of
1947 to require disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act of
information regarding certain individuals.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 7, 1997
Mrs. Maloney of New York (for herself and Mr. Horn) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government
Reform and Oversight, and in addition to the Committees on Intelligence
(Permanent Select), and the Juiciary, 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
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A BILL
To amend title 5, United States Code, and the National Security Act of
1947 to require disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act of
information regarding certain individuals.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the "War Crimes Disclosure Act''.
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT OF DISCLOSURE UNDER FOIA OF INFORMATION REGARDING
INDIVIDUALS WHO COMMITTED NAZI WAR CRIMES.
(a) In General.--Section 552 of title 5, United States Code, is
amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), and (f) as
subsections (e), (f), and (g), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new
subsection:
"(d)(1)(A) Notwithstanding subsection (b), this section shall
apply to any matter, in the possession or control of a specified
agency, that relates to any individual as to whom there exists
reasonable grounds to believe that such individual, during the period
beginning on March 23, 1933, and ending on May 8, 1945, under the
direction of, or in association with--
"(i) the Nazi government of Germany,
"(ii) any government in any area occupied by the military
forces of the Nazi government of Germany,
"(iii) any government established with the assistance or
cooperation of the Nazi government of Germany, or
"(iv) any government which was an ally of the Nazi
government of Germany,
ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the
persecution of any person because of race, religion, national origin,
or political opinion.
"(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term `specified agency'
means the following entities, any predecessor of such an entity, and
any component of such an entity (or of such a predecessor):
"(i) The Central Intelligence Agency.
"(ii) The Department of Defense.
"(iii) The National Security Agency.
"(iv) The National Security Council.
"(v) The Department of State.
"(vi) The Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"(vii) The United States Information Agency.
"(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to--
"(A) any matter that is referred to in subsection (b)(6);
"(B) any matter the disclosure of which would--
"(i) reveal an intelligence agent regarding whom
there is clear and convincing evidence that the
identity of such agent currently requires protection;
"(ii) by revealing the name or identity of a
living person who provided confidential information to
the United States, constitute a substantial risk of
harm to such person (as determined by clear and
convincing evidence); or
"(iii) compromise the existence of an
understanding of confidentiality currently requiring
protection between an agent of the Government and a
cooperating individual or a foreign government, and (as
determined by clear and convincing evidence) cause harm
that substantially outweighs the public interest in the
disclosure;
"(C) any matter regarding which there is clear and
convincing evidence that the current or future threat to
national security, military defense, intelligence operations,
or the conduct of foreign relations of the United States
substantially outweighs the public interest in disclosure of
the matter;
"(D) any matter created (by any person) in connection with
an investigation, inquiry, or prosecution by the Office of
Special Investigations of the Department of Justice; or
"(E) any portion, of any matter, that--
"(i) does not relate to any individual referred to
in paragraph (1); and
"(ii) is reasonably segregable from any other
portions of the matter that relate to an individual
referred to in paragraph (1).
"(3) Any reasonably segregable portion of a matter referred to in
subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (2) shall be provided, after
deletion of all portions of the matter that are referred to in such
subparagraph, to any person requesting the matter under this section if
the reasonably segregable portion would otherwise be required to be
disclosed under this section.
"(4) In the case of a request under this section for any matter
required to be disclosed under this subsection, if the agency receiving
such request is unable to locate the records so requested, such agency
shall promptly supply, to the person making such request, a description
of the steps which were taken by such agency to search the indices and
other locator systems of the agency to determine whether such records
are in the possession or control of the agency.''.
(b) Inapplicability of National Security Act of 1947 Exemption.--
Section 701 of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 431) is
amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as subsections
(f) and (g), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following new
subsection:
"(e) Subsection (a) shall not apply to any operational file, or
any portion of any operational file, required to be disclosed under
section 552(d) of title 5, United States Code (Freedom of Information
Act).''.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall apply to requests made after
the expiration of the 180-day period beginning on the date of the
enactment of this Act.