H4150 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð HOUSE June 23, 1997 May, along with Congressman HENRY WAXMAN thority to continue operating for one additional Mr. Speaker, it is our understanding that the and Congressman LOUIS STOKES. year, until September 30, 1997. Because the Review Board will need more time to process H.R. 1553 amends the John F. Kennedy As- review process proved to be more complex the classified records that remain, primarily sassination Records Collection Act of 1992 to and time-consuming than anticipated, the records from the Central Intelligence Agency, provide one additional year for the Assassina- President included in his fiscal year 1998 and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The tion Records Review Board to complete its budget a request for a 1-year extension of the additional year will permit the review board to work, which is to review and publicly release Review Board's authorization. complete this work, close out the operation, documents relating to the Kennedy assassina- I support the Assassination Records Review and submit its final report. tion at the earliest possible date. The Amer- Board's request for a 1-year extension of its It is a credit to this institution that we can ican people have a right to demand account- authorization so that it can complete its mis- provide historians and the American public ability by the Federal Government regarding sion in a professional and thorough manner. with all relevant information concerning the as- the Kennedy assassination records. By allow- However, let me make it very clear that, as sassination of President Kennedy. It is my be- ing the Review Board to finish its work and chairman of the Government Reform and lief that we should allow the Assassination make the Kennedy assassination documents Oversight Committee, I do not intend to sup- Records Review Board to complete this impor- public, Congress will demonstrate to Ameri- port any additional extension of the Review tant undertaking. I urge my colleagues to join cans that the Government has nothing to hide. Board's life beyond September 30, 1998. On me in supporting the passage of H.R. 1553. H.R. 1553 would extend the Review Board's June 4, 1997, the chairman of the Review Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield September 30, 1997, termination date under Board, John Tunheim, testified before the Na- back the balance of my time. current law to September 30, 1998. H.R. 1553 tional Security, International Affairs, and Crimi- Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield authorizes $1.6 million in fiscal year 1998 for nal Justice Subcommittee, and in his testi- back the balance of my time. this purpose. I would note that Congressman mony he assured the subcommittee that one The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. STOKES, who is an original cosponsor of my additional year would be sufficient for the Re- PETRI). The question is on the motion bill, sponsored the 1992 act in the House and view Board to finish its work. offered by the gentleman from Texas chaired the House Select Committee on As- I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1553. [Mr. SESSIONS] that the House suspend sassinations that was established in 1976. Mr. STOKES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gen- the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1553. The purpose of the 1992 legislation was to tleman from Texas for yielding to me. I rise in The question was taken; and (two- publicly release records relating to the Ken- support of this bill and I want to commend thirds having voted in favor thereof) nedy assassination at the earliest possible Chairman BURTON and ranking Member Mr. the rules were suspended and the bill date. The Assassination Records Review WAXMAN for bringing this bill to the floor. As an was passed. Board was set up to review and release the original cosponsor of this legislation, and as A motion to reconsider was laid on voluminous amounts of information in the Gov- the former chairman of the House Select the table. ernment's possession. The FBI, the Secret Committee on Assassinations, I have a strong f Service, the CIA, the Warren Commission, the interest in this issue. In 1978, the House Select Committee on NOTICE OF ALTERATION OF Rockefeller Commission, the Church Commit- Assassinations completed a 2-year investiga- ORDER OF CONSIDERATION OF tee in the Senate, and the House Select Com- tion of the facts and circumstances surround- AMENDMENTS DURING FURTHER mittee on Assassinations have all held assas- ing the assassination of President John F. CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1119, NA- sination records, and related documents have Kennedy. The completed investigation in- TIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZA- also been in the possession of certain State cluded the publishing of 9 volumes of hearings TION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1998 and local authorities as well as private citi- with the testimony of 55 witnesses and 619 Mr. STUMP. Mr. Speaker, pursuant zens. exhibits. to section 5 of House Resolution 169 When the 1992 legislation was considered, In the years following the Assassination and as the designee of the chairman of nearly 1 million pages of data compiled by offi- Committee's work, old issues and new theo- Committee on National Security, I re- cial investigations of the assassination had not ries continued to surface about the assassina- quest that during further consideration been made available to the public, some 30 tion of President Kennedy. Therefore in 1992, of H.R. 1119 in the Committee of Whole years after the tragedy. In creating the Review I authored, and the Congress passed, the and following consideration of amend- Board, Congress believed that simply making President John F. Kennedy Assassination ment No. 15, printed in part 2 of House all relevant information available to the public Records Collect Act. This law created the As- Report 105±137, as modified by section was the best way to respond to the continuing sassination Records Review Board which was 8(b) of House Resolution 169, the fol- high level of interest in the Kennedy assas- given the responsibility to identify, secure, and lowing amendments be considered in sination, and was preferable to undertaking a make available, all records related to the as- the following order: new congressional investigation. The 1992 law sassination of President Kennedy. We felt that Amendment No. 1, printed in part 2 requires the Review Board to presume that an independent board would represent the of House Report 105±137; amendment documents relating to the assassination most effective and efficient vehicle to make all No. 34, printed in part 2 of House Re- should be made public unless there is clear assassination records available to the public. port 105±137; amendment No. 10, printed and convincing evidence to the contrary. To date, the Assassination Records Review in part 1 of House Report 105±137; As a result of the Review Board's efforts, Board has acted to transfer more than 14,000 amendment No. 11, printed in part 1 of more than 14,000 documents have been documents to the JFK collection at the Na- House Report 105±137; amendment No. transferred to the National Archives and tional Archives. The collection currently totals 7, printed in part 1 of House Report 105± Records Administration for inclusion in the 3.7 million pages. It is used extensively by re- 137, as modified by section 8(a) of JFK collection. That collection now totals ap- searchers from all over the United States. Fur- House Resolution 169; the amendment proximately 3.7 million pages and is used ex- ther, by the end of fiscal year 1997, the Re- printed in section 8(c) of House Resolu- tensively by researchers from all over the Unit- view Board will have reviewed and processed tion 169; amendment No. 35 printed in ed States. The Review Board was in the news assassination records that more than 30 dif- part 2 of House Report 105±137. in April of this year when it voted to make ferent government offices have identified, not f public the Abraham Zapruder film of the Ken- including files of the Federal Bureau of Inves- nedy assassination. tigation and the Central Intelligence Agency. NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZA- The John F. Kennedy Assassination Becase of the Review Board's diligent ef- TION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1998 Records Collection Act of 1992 originally pro- forts, some very important documents have The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- vided a 3-year timetable for the Assassination been made public. They include: thousands of ant to House Resolution 169 and rule Records Review Board to complete its work. CIA documents on Lee Harvey Oswald and XXIII, the Chair declares the House in Unfortunately, there were lengthy delays in the the assassination of President Kennedy; thou- the Committee of the Whole House on appointment of board members, and as a con- sands of records from the House Assassina- the State of the Union for the further sequence, the Review Board was scheduled tions Committee, including a staff report of Os- consideration of the bill, H.R. 1119. to cease operations before it began its work. wald's travel to Mexico City; thousands of b Therefore, in 1994, Congress ``restarted the records from the FBI which document the 1319 clock'' by extending the 1992 law's termination agency's interest in Oswald before the Ken- IN THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE date for 1 year, to September 30, 1996. The nedy assassination; and extensive FBI files on Accordingly the House resolved itself Review Board subsequently exercised its au- its investigation of the assassination. into the Committee of the Whole House June 23, 1997 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD Ð HOUSE H4151 on the State of the Union for the fur- way to spend unwisely is to spend militarily and accept more responsibil- ther consideration of the bill (H.R.