[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 24, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H10817-H10819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
WAR CRIMES DISCLOSURE ACT
Mr. HORN. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1281) 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 who
participated in Nazi war crimes during the period in which the United
States was involved in World War II, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 1281
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that--
(1) during the 104th Congress, Americans commemorated the
50th anniversary of the conclusion of the Second World War
and the end of the Holocaust, one of the worst tragedies in
history;
(2) it is important to learn all that we can about this
terrible era so that we can prevent such a catastrophe from
ever happening again;
(3) the Cold War is over;
(4) numerous nations, including those of the former Soviet
Union, are making public their files on Nazi war criminals as
well as crimes committed by agencies of their own
governments;
(5) on April 17, 1995, President Clinton signed Executive
Order 12958, which will make available certain previously
classified national security documents that are at least 25
years old;
(6) that Executive Order stated: ``Our democratic
principles require that the American people be informed of
the activities of their Government.'';
(7) this year marks the 30th anniversary of the passage of
the Freedom of Information Act;
(8) agencies of the United States Government possess
information on individuals who ordered, incited, assisted, or
otherwise participated in Nazi war crimes;
(9) some agencies have routinely denied Freedom of
Information Act requests for information about individuals
who committed Nazi war crimes;
(10) United States Government agencies may have been in
possession of material about the war crimes facilitated by
Kurt Waldheim but did not make this information public;
(11) it is legitimate not to disclose certain material in
Government files if the disclosure would seriously and
demonstrably harm current or future national defense,
intelligence, or foreign relations activities of the United
States and if protection of these matters from disclosure
outweighs the public interest of disclosure;
(12) the disclosure of most Nazi war crimes information
should not harm United States national interests; and
(13) the Office of Special Investigations of the Department
of Justice is engaged in vital work investigating and
expelling Nazi war criminals from the United States,
accordingly, the records created by these investigations and
other actions should not be disclosed, and the investigations
and other actions should not be interfered with.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.
It is the sense of the Congress that United States
Government agencies in possession of records about
individuals who are alleged to have committed Nazi war crimes
should make these records public.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California [Mr. Horn] and the gentlewoman from New York [Mrs. Maloney]
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California [Mr. Horn].
Mr. HORN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Over a half century has passed since the ending of the Second World
War and the revelation of the horrors of the Holocaust. The War Crimes
Disclosure Act authored by my colleague, the gentlewoman from New York
[Mrs. Maloney], is intended to make available under the Freedom of
Information Act records in the possession of Federal departments and
agencies about individuals believed to have participated in Nazi war
crimes. I join the bill's author, Representative Maloney, in advancing
this important legislation.
We are acting just a day after the Jewish high holiday of Yom Kippur,
[[Page H10818]]
the Day of Atonement. All people of conscience can benefit from the
careful contemplation of the past. Such reflection is a vital step
toward a resolve to redress past wrongs and to do good in the future.
For governments and their citizens to accomplish this, the facts, even
painful facts, must be made public.
If we are not to forget the horrors of the Holocaust, and we must
never do so, then we must make the records available, all the records
of this dark, dark period in human history.
I am appreciative of the role of historians as stewards of our past.
Their work on this terrible period is far from complete. We must assist
them by making these records available. Information about contacts once
maintained with Nazi war criminals must finally be disclosed.
Some words of clarification are necessary about the amendment before
the House. The Committee on Government Reform and Oversight passed a
version of H.R. 1281 which provided for the mandatory disclosure of
this information pursuant to the provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act, or FOIA, as it is called.
Normally under the Freedom of Information Act, national security
records are exempt from disclosure. H.R. 1281 as reported by the
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight would have required a
careful balancing of the public interest when the national security
exemption was applied to the records of alleged Nazi war criminals.
Since the committee's action, Mrs. Maloney, the Representative from
New York, and I have worked with the Permanent Section Committee on
Intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency to refine the language
of H.R. 1281 to address the national security considerations.
Unfortunately, we have not been able to resolve the sensitive questions
about the extent and nature of judicial review of agency or Freedom of
Information Act determinations and the appropriate treatment of the
more recently created records.
Consequently, I join the gentlewoman from New York [Mrs. Maloney] in
proposing an amendment with substitute language which expresses, and I
quote:
It is the policy of the Congress that the United States
Government agencies in possession of records about
individuals who are alleged to have committed Nazi war crimes
should make these records public.
I expect in the next Congress to continue to work together with
Representative Maloney and others to advance the release of records
held by the Federal Government departments and agencies concerning Nazi
war criminals. I am confident that an appropriate balancing of
interests can be found.
As the author of H.R. 1281, the gentlewoman from New York [Mrs.
Maloney] has provided active leadership in using the Freedom of
Information Act to learn more about the information in Federal
Government files about Nazi war criminals.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
(Mrs. MALONEY asked and was given permission to revise and extend her
remarks.)
Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, I first want to thank my friend, the
gentleman from California, Chairman Horn, and his fine staff and my
fine staff for all of their hard work on bringing this measure to the
floor. I want to thank the gentleman from Texas, Chairman Combest, and
the gentleman from Washington, Mr. Dicks, ranking member of the
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence for their assistance. I also
want to thank our former colleague, Elizabeth Holtzman, not only for
her efforts on this bill but for a career spent in pursuit of justice
and human rights, dating back to her pioneering legislation on Nazi war
criminals.
Madam Speaker, this is a somewhat bittersweet moment. Chairman Horn
and I had wanted to bring forward H.R. 1281 as reported, which
unanimously passed the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight.
This bill which I have been working on for nearly 3 years would end a
tremendous loophole in the Freedom of Information Act which currently
allows Government agencies to block the release of information on Nazi
war crimes. Although we have a carefully crafted bill, which protects
legitimate national security, the CIA strenuously objected to the
legislation and has effectively killed it in this Congress.
Given that half a century has passed since the end of World War II
and given that the cold war is over, I find it outrageous that the CIA
would block a bill which would help us shed light on the Holocaust, the
darkest moment in the history of man's inhumanity to man.
But bringing this substitute sense of Congress resolution to the
floor today, we will put the House on record in support of the
principles of our bill and we will set the stage for the passage of
binding legislation in the next Congress.
Madam Speaker, I am indebted to A.M. Rosenthal of the New York Times
for his series of articles he wrote about secret U.S. Nazi war crimes
files. I am also thankful for the advice and assistance of professor
Robert Herzstein of the University of South Carolina who has cataloged
the celebrated case of Kurt Waldheim. For years the CIA was keeping its
information on Waldheim a secret, even as the Department of Justice was
placing him on the watch list of individuals forbidden to enter the
United States. It is not difficult to imagine how history might have
been changed if Waldheim's secret past had become public. Most notably,
he probably would not have been elected to the post of Secretary
General of the United Nations, one of the most shameful events in the
history of that world body.
And Waldheim's outrageous story continues. In his recent
autobiography, he continues to whitewash his Nazi past and blames the
American Jewish community for his banishment from the United States. I
drafted H.R. 1281 to ensure that the entire Waldheim file is finally
disclosed. It is also my hope that the enactment of this bill will help
those who research the horrors of the Holocaust to ensure that cases
like Waldheim do not occur again.
Madam Speaker, some of what we might learn in U.S. Government files
may not be pleasant. Evidence exists, for example, that our Nation
actively recruited Nazis and facilitated their entry into the country
to pursue early cold war objectives. But as we quote in this
resolution, President Clinton's Executive Order 1212958, which
represents a strong step forward in the declassification of national
security documents states, and I quote, ``Our democratic principles
require that the American people be informed of the activities of their
government.''
Madam Speaker, this is the spirit of the Freedom of Information Act
which this year turns 30 years old. FOIA has been a great tool to
historians, studying World War II and the Holocaust. But all too often
U.S. intelligence, defense, and foreign relations agencies deny FOIA
requests, citing outdated exemptions that are simply no longer valid in
the post-cold war era.
Our bill as reported would have required the release of this material
but would have exempted disclosure of files that would have seriously
harmed current or future national security concerns.
Our bill would have ended the longstanding practice of routine denial
by the CIA of freedom of information requests about Nazi war crimes, by
placing the CIA under the judicial review requirements of other
government agencies. What this means is that researchers who present
the CIA with reasonable FOIA requests, only to have them denied, would
be able to turn to the Federal courts for final ruling. Our bill would
not have interfered with the outstanding work of the Office of Special
Investigations, which has a long track record of exposing and expelling
Nazi war criminals from our country.
Madam Speaker, during the past several days, as I have been
attempting to get H.R. 1281 to the floor, the Nation has learned some
very interesting facts from previously classified historical documents.
For example, we learned last week from a 40-year-old document that our
government knew about U.S. prisoners of war held by North Korea during
the Korean war.
We also learned from World War II documents that millions of dollars
in gold looted by the Nazis is currently sitting in the Federal Reserve
Bank of New York.
[[Page H10819]]
These two revelations may be disturbing but learning about our
Nation's past, disturbing as it might be, to teach us how to govern in
the future is the essence of democracy. And this is the essence of the
resolution we are debating today. We can never heed Santayana's warning
that, and I quote, ``Those who do not remember the past are condemned
to repeat it,'' if we do not have the proper historical tools.
Madam Speaker, yesterday Jews all over the world celebrated Yom
Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This is a day of somber reflection about
the past. In my district and in countless others, thousands of these
individuals are survivors of the Holocaust and their families. These
people can never escape the searing memories of what befell them half a
century ago.
In passing this resolution, we honor the memory of those who died and
the suffering of those who survived. In passing this resolution, we are
taking a stand against those who insult humanity by denying the very
fact that the Holocaust occurred. And in passing this resolution, we
must pledge that before another year goes by, we will ensure that our
government's full accounting of this terrible era and its aftermath is
made public.
I ask my colleagues to support our resolution calling for the release
of Nazi war crime files.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HORN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I received a letter from the chairman of the Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence, our distinguished colleague, the gentleman
from Texas [Mr. Combest]. I want to include that letter for the Record:
House of Representatives, Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence,
Washington, DC, September 23, 1996.
Hon. Stephen Horn,
Chairman, Subcommittee on Government Management, Information,
and Technology, Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: I am writing to you regarding the War
Crimes Disclosure Act, H.R. 1281. As reported, H.R. 1281,
contained a number of provisions that would amend the Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) and would effect long standing
federal case law and rule of judicial deference to
intelligence and law enforcement executive agency expertise
in national security matters.
The Committee is committed to declassifying older
intelligence documents, in particular those pertaining to
Nazi war criminals. I specifically requested that the Central
Intelligence Agency review this legislation to reach an
agreement satisfying the concerns of the intelligence
agencies as well as meeting the public's right to receive
information about Nazi criminals that may be contained within
U.S. intelligence files.
I am in receipt of the Sense of Congress substitute for
H.R. 1281 that reiterates the commitment we all feet
concerning the disclosure of information related to Nazi war
crimes. Recognizing that you and Representative Maloney
desire to bring this legislation to the House floor
expeditiously, the House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence will forego its right to sequential referral in
this instance. Further, I am committed to working with you to
craft new legislation that meets the desire of the American
people to know about Nazi criminal acts while protecting
legitimate national security interests.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Larry Combest,
Chairman.
Mr. HORN. Madam Speaker, I want to quote two paragraphs there that
are relevant to the measure before us. Chairman Combest assures me:
The committee is committed to declassifying older
intelligence documents, in particular those pertaining to
Nazi war criminals. I specifically requested that the Central
Intelligence Agency review this legislation to reach an
agreement satisfying the concerns of the intelligence
agencies as well as meeting the public's right to receive
information about Nazi criminals that may be contained within
U.S. intelligence files.
He goes on to say:
I am in receipt of the Sense of Congress substitute for
H.R. 1281 that reiterates the commitment we all feel
concerning the disclosure of information related to Nazi war
crimes. Recognizing that you and Representative Maloney
desires to bring this legislation to the floor expeditiously,
the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence will
forego its rights to sequential referral in this instance.
Further, I am committed to working with you to craft new
legislation that meets the desire of the American people to
know about Nazi criminal acts while protecting legitimate
national security interests.
Madam Speaker, I deeply appreciate the word of the chairman of the
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. As a citizen and as a
Member of this Congress, I cannot imagine any executive branch under
any administration wanting, after almost a half century has passed, to
keep the files that relate to specific war crimes committed during the
Second World War.
{time} 1500
Madam Speaker, this is a fine piece of legislation that the
gentlewoman from New York [Mrs. Maloney] has offered. We are delighted
to support it on this side.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Greene of Utah). The question is on the
motion offered by the gentleman from California [Mr. Horn] that the
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1281, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
The title of the bill was amended so as to read: ``A bill to express
the sense of the Congress that United States Government agencies in
possession of records about individuals who are alleged to have
committed Nazi war crimes should make these records public.''
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________