[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5432 Introduced in House (IH)]
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5432
To amend the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act to extend and modify the
functions of the Nazi War Criminal Records Interagency Working Group to
cover records of the Japanese Imperial Government, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 10, 2000
Mrs. Maloney of New York (for herself and Mr. Lantos) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government
Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act to extend and modify the
functions of the Nazi War Criminal Records Interagency Working Group to
cover records of the Japanese Imperial Government, 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 and Japanese
Imperial Government Disclosure Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) In 1998, Congress adopted the Nazi War Crimes
Disclosure Act (Public Law 105-246) requiring the executive
branch to identify any still-classified records in its custody
relating to Nazi war crimes, war criminals, persecution, and
looted assets and to declassify and release such records to the
American public. Under that Act, the President established the
Nazi War Criminal Records Interagency Working Group (in this
section referred to as the ``Interagency Group'') to carry out
the functions required by that Act.
(2) In its first year, the Interagency Group screened more
than 600,000,000 pages of material relating to Nazi war crimes
and has declassified 1,500,000 pages of such material and
opened them to the public at the National Archives.
(3) While the Interagency Group has worked diligently to
screen materials and declassify millions of pages of material,
the limited staff and funding available to the Interagency
Group threaten its ability to complete the functions required
by the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act.
(4) Already, significant new information about the
Holocaust has been revealed in the more than 400,000 records of
the Office of Strategic Services that were released by the
Interagency Group at the National Archives on June 26, 2000.
However, further such revelations depend on the availability of
adequate staff support and funding for the Interagency Group.
(5) The remarkable progress made by the Interagency Group
has been achieved even though Congress has not appropriated
funds for the support of the Interagency Group or for the
activities carried out by the various Federal agencies which
hold records subject to its functions. Without the resources to
review the materials being released, it will be years before
the significance of the contents of such materials will be
understood.
(6) The Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act charged the
Interagency Group with reviewing all records that pertain to
World War II, under the direction of, or in association with
the Nazi government of Germany, any government occupied by the
military of the Nazi government, and any government that was an
ally of the Nazi government, which includes the Japanese
Imperial Government.
(7) After the end of World War II, the United States
returned more than 18,000,000 pages of captured Japanese
records to the Japanese Government at its request.
(8) In order to complete the Congressional directives of
the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act, the Interagency Group
should review the materials that were returned to Japan.
Therefore, the full cooperation of the Japanese Government in
granting access to the Interagency Group and assisting in the
review of all World War II records is desired to insure that
these historic records can be reviewed, released, or otherwise
made available to the public in a timely and efficient manner.
(9) The Interagency Group has been working diligently to
fulfill its charge under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act,
but the original three-year authorization of the Interagency
Group under that Act does not allow for the completion of the
momentous tasks outlined in that Act, specifically the
completion of the review of the records pertaining to the
Japanese Government.
SEC. 3. EXTENSION AND MODIFICATION OF AUTHORITY OF NAZI WAR CRIMINAL
RECORDS INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP TO COVER JAPANESE
IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT RECORDS.
(a) Amendment to Title.--Section 1 of the Nazi War Crimes
Disclosure Act (Public Law 105-246; 112 Stat. 1859; 5 U.S.C. 552 note)
is amended by striking ``Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act'' and inserting
``Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Disclosure Act''.
(b) Extension of Authority.--Section 2(b)(1) of such Act is amended
by striking ``3 years'' and inserting ``5 years''.
(c) Membership.--Section 2(b)(2) of such Act is amended by striking
``3 other persons'' and inserting ``4 other persons, who shall be
members of the public and of whom 3 shall be persons appointed to the
Interagency Group before the date of the enactment of the Nazi War
Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Disclosure Act''.
(d) Functions Regarding Japanese Imperial Government Records.--
(1) In general.--Section 2(c)(1) of such Act is amended by
inserting ``and all classified Japanese Imperial Government
records of the United States'' after ``of the United States''.
(2) Definition of japanese imperial government records.--
Section 3 of such Act is amended--
(A) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as
subsections (c) and (d), respectively; and
(B) by inserting after subsection (a) the following
new subsection (b):
``(b) Japanese Imperial Government Records.--For purposes of this
Act, the term `Japanese Imperial Government records' means classified
records or portions of records that pertain to any person with respect
to whom the United States Government, in its sole discretion, has
grounds to believe ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise
participated in the persecution of any person because of race, gender,
religion, national origin, or political opinion, during the period
beginning September 18, 1931, and ending on September 2, 1945, under
the direction of, or in association with--
``(1) the Japanese Imperial Army;
``(2) the Japanese Imperial Government;
``(3) any government in any area occupied by the military
forces of the Japanese Imperial Army;
``(4) any government established with the assistance or
cooperation of the Japanese Imperial Army or Japanese Imperial
Government; or
``(5) any government which was an ally of the Japanese
Imperial Government.''.
(3) Application of exemptions.--Paragraph (3)(A) of section
3(c) of such Act, as redesignated by paragraph (2)(A) of this
section, is amended to read as follows:
``(A) In general.--In applying the exemptions
provided in subparagraphs (B) through (J) of paragraph
(2), there shall be a presumption that the public
interest will be served by disclosure and release of
the Nazi war criminal records or Japanese Imperial
Government records, as the case may be. The exemption
may be asserted only when the head of the agency that
maintains the records determines that disclosure and
release would be harmful to a specific interest
identified in the exemption. An agency head who makes
such a determination shall promptly report such
determination to the committees of Congress with
appropriate jurisdiction, including the Committee on
the Judiciary and the Select Committee on Intelligence
of the Senate and the Committee on Government Reform
and Oversight and the Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence of the House of Representatives. The
exemptions set forth in paragraph (2) shall constitute
the only authority pursuant to which an agency head may
exempt records otherwise subject to release under
paragraph (1).''.
(4) Conforming amendments.--Such Act is further amended as
follows:
(A) In section 2(a)--
(i) by striking ``and'' at the end of
paragraph (3);
(ii) by striking paragraph (4); and
(iii) by adding after paragraph (3) the
following new paragraphs:
``(4) `Japanese Imperial Government records' has the
meaning given such term under section 3(b) of this Act; and
``(5) `record' means a Nazi war criminal record or a
Japanese Imperial Government record.''.
(B) In section 3(c)(1), as redesignated by
paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection, by inserting ``and
Japanese Imperial Government records'' after ``Nazi war
criminal records''.
(C) In section 4(d), as so redesignated, by
inserting ``or Japanese Imperial Government record''
after ``Nazi war criminal record''.
(D) In section 4, by inserting ``or Japanese
Imperial Government record'' after ``Nazi war criminal
record'' each place it appears.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 2(d) of such Act is
amended to read as follows:
``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated for the Interagency Group to carry out this section,
$5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001, 2002 and 2003.''.
(f) Records Included.--Section 3(a)(2)(A) of such Act is amended by
striking ``beginning on March 23, 1933, and ending on May 8, 1945'' and
inserting ``beginning on January 1, 1931, and ending on September 2,
1945''.
(g) Modification of Name of Interagency Group.--Such Act is amended
by striking ``Nazi War Criminal Records Interagency Working Group''
each place it appears and inserting ``Nazi War Crimes and Japanese
Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group''.
(h) Clerical Amendments.--(1) The section heading of section 2 of
such Act is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NAZI WAR CRIMES AND JAPANESE IMPERIAL
GOVERNMENT RECORDS INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.''.
(2) The section heading of section 3 of such Act is amended to read
as follows:
``SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT OF DISCLOSURE OF NAZI WAR CRIMINAL RECORDS AND
JAPANESE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT RECORDS.''.
(3) The section heading of section 4 of such Act is amended to read
as follows:
``SEC. 4. EXPEDITED PROCESSING OF FOIA REQUESTS FOR NAZI WAR CRIMINAL
RECORDS AND JAPANESE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT RECORDS.''.
SEC. 4. REPORT ON ACTIVITIES OF NAZI WAR CRIMES AND JAPANESE IMPERIAL
GOVERNMENT INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.
(a) Report Required.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial
Government Interagency Working Group shall submit to Congress,
including the committees of Congress specified in subsection (b), a
report on the activities of the Interagency Group under the Nazi War
Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Disclosure Act, as amended by
section 3 of this Act, during the one-year period ending on the date of
the report. The report shall describe the activities of the Interagency
Group and applicable Federal agencies under section 2(c) of that Act,
as so amended, and include a description of the records processed by
the Interagency Group under that Act (including the disposition of such
records).
(b) Committees of Congress.--The committees of Congress specified
in this subsection are as follows:
(1) The Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Committee
on Intelligence of the Senate.
(2) The Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on
Government Reform and Oversight, and the Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING COOPERATION OF FOREIGN NATIONS.
It is the sense of Congress that foreign nations, and in particular
Japan, should make every effort possible to make its records available
to and cooperate with the Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial
Government Records Interagency Working Group established by section 2
of the Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Disclosure Act,
as amended by section 3 of this Act, in carrying out the duties of the
Interagency Group under such Act, as so amended.
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