[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 235 Introduced in House (IH)]







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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.
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