[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1379 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1379

 To amend section 552 of title 5, United States Code, and the National 
    Security Act of 1947 to require disclosure under the Freedom of 
 Information Act regarding certain persons, disclose Nazi war criminal 
records without impairing any investigation or prosecution conducted by 
  the Department of Justice or certain intelligence matters, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            November 5, 1997

  Mr. DeWine (for himself, Mr. Moynihan, Mr. Hatch, Mr. D'Amato, Mr. 
Dodd, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Coverdell, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Leiberman, 
 Ms. Snowe, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Thurmond, Mr. McCain, Mr. Shelby, Mr. 
Campbell, and Mr. Wyden) introduced the following bill; which was read 
          twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend section 552 of title 5, United States Code, and the National 
    Security Act of 1947 to require disclosure under the Freedom of 
 Information Act regarding certain persons, disclose Nazi war criminal 
records without impairing any investigation or prosecution conducted by 
  the Department of Justice or certain intelligence matters, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 ``Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT OF DISCLOSURE UNDER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION 
              REGARDING PERSONS WHO COMMITTED NAZI WAR CRIMES.

    (a) In General.--Section 552 of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(4)(B) in the second sentence, by 
        inserting ``or subsection (h)'' after ``subsection (b)''; and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (g) the following:
    ``(h)(1) For the purposes of this subsection, the term `Nazi war 
criminal records' means records or portions of records that--
            ``(A) pertain to any person as to whom the United States 
        Government, in its sole discretion, has determined there exists 
        reasonable grounds to believe that such person, 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; or
            ``(B) pertain to any transaction as to which the United 
        States Government, in its sole discretion, has determined there 
        exists reasonable grounds to believe--
                    ``(i) involved assets taken from persecuted persons 
                during the period beginning on March 23, 1933, and 
                ending on May 8, 1945, by, under the direction of, on 
                behalf of, or under authority granted by the Nazi 
                government of Germany or any nation then allied with 
                that government; and
                    ``(ii) such transaction was completed without the 
                assent of the owners of those assets or their heirs or 
                assigns or other legitimate representatives.
    ``(2)(A) Notwithstanding subsection (b), this subsection shall 
apply to Nazi war criminal records.
    ``(B) Subject to subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E), Nazi war criminal 
records that are responsive to a request for records made in accordance 
with subsection (a) shall be released in their entirety.
    ``(C) An agency head may exempt from release under subparagraph (B) 
specific information, the release of which should be expected to--
            ``(i) constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal 
        privacy;
            ``(ii) reveal the identity of a confidential human source, 
        or reveal information about the application of an intelligence 
        source or method, or reveal the identity of a human 
        intelligence source when the unauthorized disclosure of that 
        source would clearly and demonstrably damage the national 
        security interests of the United States;
            ``(iii) reveal information that would assist in the 
        development or use of weapons of mass destruction;
            ``(iv) reveal information that would impair United States 
        cryptologic systems or activities;
            ``(v) reveal information that would impair the application 
        of state-of-the-art technology within a United States weapon 
        system;
            ``(vi) reveal actual United States military war plans that 
        remain in effect;
            ``(vii) reveal information that would seriously and 
        demonstrably impair relations between the United States and a 
        foreign government, or seriously and demonstrably undermine 
        ongoing diplomatic activities of the United States;
            ``(viii) reveal information that would clearly and 
        demonstrably impair the current ability of United States 
        Government officials to protect the President, Vice President, 
        and other officials for whom protection services, in the 
        interest of national security, are authorized;
            ``(ix) reveal information that would seriously and 
        demonstrably impair current national security emergency 
        preparedness plans; or
            ``(x) violate a statute, treaty, or international 
        agreement.
    ``(D) In applying exemptions (ii) through (x) of subparagraph (C), 
there shall be a presumption that the public interest in the release of 
Nazi war criminal records outweighs the damage to national security 
that might reasonably be expected to result from disclosure. The agency 
head, as an exercise of discretion, may rebut this presumption with 
respect to a Nazi war criminal record, or portion thereof, based on an 
exemption listed in subparagraph (C). The exercise of this discretion 
shall be promptly reported to the committees of Congress with 
appropriate jurisdiction.
    ``(E) This subsection shall not apply to records--
            ``(i) related to or supporting any active or inactive 
        investigation, inquiry, or prosecution by the Office of Special 
        Investigations of the Department of Justice; or
            ``(ii) in the possession, custody or control of that 
        office.''.
    (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:
    ``(e) Subsection (a) shall not apply to any operational file, or 
any portion of any operational file, that constitutes a Nazi war 
criminal record under section 552(h) of title 5, United States Code.''.

SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY INVENTORY OF NAZI WAR CRIMINAL RECORDS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section the term--
            (1) ``agency'' has the meaning given such term under 
        section 551 of title 5, United States Code;
            (2) ``Interagency Group'' means the Nazi War Criminal 
        Records Interagency Working Group established under subsection 
        (b);
            (3) ``Nazi war criminal records'' has the meaning given 
        such term under section 552(h)(1) of title 5, United States 
        Code (as added by section 2(a)(2) of this Act); and
            (4) ``record'' means a Nazi war criminal record.
    (b) Establishment of Interagency Group.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the President shall establish the Nazi 
        War Criminal Records Interagency Working Group.
            (2) Membership.--The President shall appoint to the 
        Interagency Group the heads of agencies who the President 
        determines will most completely and effectively carry out the 
        functions of the Interagency Group within the time limitations 
        provided in this section. The head of an agency appointed by 
        the President may designate an appropriate officer to serve on 
        the Interagency Group in lieu of the head of such agency.
            (3) Initial meeting.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
        of enactment of this Act, the Interagency Group shall hold an 
        initial meeting and begin the functions required under this 
        section.
    (c) Functions.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Interagency Group shall, to the greatest extent 
possible consistent with section 552(h)(2) of title 5, United States 
Code (as added by section 2(a)(2) of this Act)--
            (1) locate, identify, inventory, recommend for 
        declassification, and make available to the public at the 
        National Archives and Records Administration, all Nazi war 
        criminal records of the United States;
            (2) coordinate with agencies and take such actions as 
        necessary to expedite the release of such records to the 
        public; and
            (3) submit a report to Congress describing all such 
        records, the disposition of such records, and the activities of 
        the Interagency Group and agencies under this section.

SEC. 4. EXPEDITED PROCESSING OF REQUESTS FOR NAZI WAR CRIMINAL RECORDS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section, the term--
            (1) ``Nazi war criminal record'' has the meaning given the 
        term under section 552(h)(1) of title 5, United States Code (as 
        added by section 2(a)(2) of this Act); and
            (2) ``requester'' means any person who was persecuted in 
        the manner described under section 552(h)(1)(A) of title 5, 
        United States Code (as added by section 2(a)(2) of this Act), 
        who requests a Nazi war criminal record.
    (b) Expedited Processing.--For purposes of expedited processing 
under section 552(a)(6)(E) of title 5, United States Code, any 
requester of a Nazi war criminal record shall be deemed to have a 
compelling need for such record.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    The amendments made by this Act shall apply to requests under 
section 552 of title 5, United States Code (known as Freedom of 
Information Act requests) received by an agency after the expiration of 
the 90-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act.
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