Presidential Document2021-23563
Temporary Certification Regarding Disclosure of Information in Certain Records Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
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Published
October 27, 2021
Signed
October 22, 2021
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 205 (Wednesday, October 27, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 27, 2021)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 59599-59602]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-23563]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 86 , No. 205 / Wednesday, October 27, 2021 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 59599]]
Memorandum of October 22, 2021
Temporary Certification Regarding Disclosure of
Information in Certain Records Related to the
Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and
Agencies
Section 1. Policy. In the President John F. Kennedy
Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (44 U.S.C.
2107 note) (the ``Act''), the Congress declared that
``all Government records concerning the assassination
of President John F. Kennedy . . . should be eventually
disclosed to enable the public to become fully informed
about the history surrounding the assassination.'' The
Congress also found that ``most of the records related
to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy are
almost 30 years old, and only in the rarest cases is
there any legitimate need for continued protection of
such records.'' Almost 30 years since the Act, the
profound national tragedy of President Kennedy's
assassination continues to resonate in American history
and in the memories of so many Americans who were alive
on that terrible day; meanwhile, the need to protect
records concerning the assassination has only grown
weaker with the passage of time. It is therefore
critical to ensure that the United States Government
maximizes transparency, disclosing all information in
records concerning the assassination, except when the
strongest possible reasons counsel otherwise.
Sec. 2. Background. The Act permits the continued
postponement of disclosure of information in records
concerning President Kennedy's assassination only when
postponement remains necessary to protect against an
identifiable harm to the military defense, intelligence
operations, law enforcement, or the conduct of foreign
relations that is of such gravity that it outweighs the
public interest in disclosure. Since 2018, executive
departments and agencies (agencies) have been reviewing
under this statutory standard each redaction they have
proposed that would result in the continued
postponement of full public disclosure. This year, the
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has
been reviewing whether it agrees that each redaction
continues to meet the statutory standard. The Archivist
of the United States (Archivist), however, has reported
that ``unfortunately, the pandemic has had a
significant impact on the agencies'' and NARA and that
NARA ``require[s] additional time to engage with the
agencies and to conduct research within the larger
collection to maximize the amount of information
released.'' The Archivist has also noted that ``making
these decisions is a matter that requires a
professional, scholarly, and orderly process; not
decisions or releases made in haste.'' The Archivist
therefore recommends that the President ``temporarily
certify the continued withholding of all of the
information certified in 2018'' and ``direct two public
releases of the information that has'' ultimately
``been determined to be appropriate for release to the
public,'' with one interim release later this year and
one more comprehensive release in late 2022.
Sec. 3. Temporary Certification. In light of the
agencies' proposals for continued postponement under
the statutory standard, the Archivist's request for an
extension of time to engage with the agencies, and the
need for an appropriate review and disclosure process,
I agree with the Archivist's recommendation. Temporary
continued postponement is necessary to protect against
identifiable harm to the military defense, intelligence
operations, law enforcement, or the conduct of foreign
relations that is of such gravity
[[Page 59600]]
that it outweighs the public interest in immediate
disclosure. Accordingly, by the authority vested in me
as President by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States of America, including section 5(g)(2)(D)
of the Act, I hereby certify that all information
within records that agencies have proposed for
continued postponement under section 5(g)(2)(D) shall
be withheld from full public disclosure until December
15, 2022.
Sec. 4. Interim Release. Any information currently
withheld from public disclosure that agencies have not
proposed for continued postponement shall be reviewed
by NARA before December 15, 2021, and shall be publicly
released on that date. Out of respect for the
anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination, such
release shall not occur before December 15, 2021.
Sec. 5. Intensive 1-Year Review. (a) Over the next
year, agencies proposing continued postponement and
NARA shall conduct an intensive review of each
remaining redaction to ensure that the United States
Government maximizes transparency, disclosing all
information in records concerning the assassination,
except when the strongest possible reasons counsel
otherwise. This review shall include documents within
the assassination records collection designated as
``not believed relevant'' by the Assassination Records
Review Board established under the Act, but nonetheless
placed within the collection by the Assassination
Records Review Board.
(b) Any information that an agency proposes for
continued postponement beyond December 15, 2022, shall
be limited to the absolute minimum under the statutory
standard. An agency shall not propose to continue
redacting information unless the redaction is necessary
to protect against an identifiable harm to the military
defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or
the conduct of foreign relations that is of such
gravity that it outweighs the public interest in
disclosure. In applying this statutory standard, an
agency shall:
(i) Accord substantial weight to the public interest in transparency and
full disclosure of any record that falls within the scope of the Act; and
(ii) Give due consideration that some degree of harm is not grounds for
continued postponement unless the degree of harm is of such gravity that it
outweighs the public interest.
(c) For any record containing information that an
agency proposes for continued postponement beyond
December 15, 2022, the agency shall provide, no later
than December 15, 2021:
(i) an unclassified letter, to be signed by the head of the agency,
providing a written description of the types of information for which the
agency is proposing continued postponement and reasons for which the agency
is proposing continued postponement of such information;
(ii) an unclassified index identifying for each such record the reasons for
which the agency is proposing continued postponement of information in such
record; and
(iii) a specific proposed date identifying for each such record when the
agency reasonably anticipates that continued postponement of information in
such record no longer would be necessary or, if that is not possible, a
specific proposed date for each such record identifying when the agency
would propose to next review again after December 15, 2022, whether the
information proposed for continued postponement in such record still
satisfies the statutory standard for postponement.
(d) NARA shall review each proposed redaction, no
later than September 1, 2022, in consultation with:
(i) The Department of Defense if the agency proposing the redaction asserts
an anticipated harm to the military defense;
(ii) The Office of the Director of National Intelligence if the agency
proposing the redaction asserts an anticipated harm to intelligence
operations;
(iii) The Department of Justice if the agency proposing the redaction
asserts an anticipated harm to law enforcement; and
[[Page 59601]]
(iv) The Department of State if the agency proposing the redaction asserts
an anticipated harm to the conduct of foreign relations.
(e) The relevant consulting agency, as designated
pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, shall
provide its assessment to NARA as to whether the
information proposed for continued postponement
satisfies the statutory standard for such postponement.
In reviewing a proposed redaction, NARA or the relevant
consulting agency, as designated pursuant to subsection
(d) of this section, should consult with the agency
that proposed the redaction.
(f) If NARA does not agree that a proposed
redaction meets the statutory standard for continued
postponement, it shall inform the agency that proposed
the redaction. After consultation with NARA, the agency
that proposed the redaction may, no later than October
1, 2022:
(i) withdraw the proposed redaction; or
(ii) refer the decision on continued postponement to the President through
the Counsel to the President, accompanied by an explanation of why
continued postponement remains necessary to protect against an identifiable
harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or
the conduct of foreign relations that is of such gravity that it outweighs
the public interest in disclosure.
(g) If NARA agrees that a proposed redaction meets
the asserted statutory standard for continued
postponement, the Archivist shall recommend to the
President, no later than October 1, 2022, that
continued postponement from public disclosure of the
information is warranted after December 15, 2022.
(h) At the conclusion of the 1-year review, any
information still withheld from public disclosure that
agencies do not propose for continued postponement
beyond December 15, 2022, shall be released to the
public on that date.
(i) At the conclusion of the 1-year review, each
unclassified letter described in subsection (c)(i) of
this section and each unclassified index described in
subsection (c)(ii) of this section shall be disclosed
to the public on December 15, 2022, with any updates
made to account for any information initially proposed
for continued postponement that is not postponed from
public disclosure beyond December 15, 2022.
Sec. 6. Digitization and Democratization of Records.
(a) Since the 1990s, more than 250,000 records
concerning President Kennedy's assassination--more than
90 percent of NARA's collection--have been released in
full to the public. Only a small fraction of the
records contains any remaining redactions. But many
records that have been fully disclosed are inaccessible
to most members of the public unless they travel to
NARA's location in College Park, Maryland.
(b) The Archivist shall issue a plan, no later than
December 15, 2021, to digitize and make available
online NARA's entire collection of records concerning
President Kennedy's assassination.
(c) The Archivist shall provide additional context
online about the records that have been withheld in
full under sections 10 and 11 of the Act--primarily
documents containing tax-related information of the
Internal Revenue Service or the Social Security
Administration--that are not subject to the
Presidential certification requirement under section 5
of the Act.
[[Page 59602]]
Sec. 7. Publication. The Archivist is hereby authorized
and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal
Register.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
Washington, October 22, 2021
[FR Doc. 2021-23563
Filed 10-26-21; 11:15 am]
Billing code 7515-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on October 27, 2021.
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