Temporary Certification Regarding Disclosure of Information in Certain Records Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 59599-59602 [2021-23563]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[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 [www.gpo.gov]
[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.
                
                
                    (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