[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S3369]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 6182. Mr. WARNOCK submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
by him to the bill S. 4784, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2027 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. __. RECORDS RELATING TO THE SURVEILLANCE OF DR. MARTIN 
                   LUTHER KING, JR.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the subject of an 
     egregious and invasive campaign of government surveillance, 
     undertaken without judicial review;
       (2) surveillance recorded the private conversations of Dr. 
     Martin Luther King, Jr and others; and
       (3) in light of the extensive historical and congressional 
     review of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the government 
     surveillance carried out against him, the historical value of 
     the records at issue is duplicatable and does not outweigh 
     the harm to the privacy interests of the recorded 
     individuals.
       (b) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) Archivist.--The term ``Archivist'' means the Archivist 
     of the United States.
       (2) Covered records.--The term ``covered records'' means 
     any tapes or documents in the custody of any Federal agency 
     relating to the surveillance by the Federal Bureau of 
     Investigation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that were the 
     subject of the order of the United States District Court for 
     the District of Columbia filed on January 31, 1977.
       (c) Access for the King Children.--On the day after the 
     last day on which the covered records are required to be kept 
     under seal under the order described in subsection (b)(2), 
     the Archivist shall grant the surviving children of Dr. 
     Martin Luther King, Jr. exclusive access to view the covered 
     records, in consultation with expert historians and 
     archivists.
       (d) Sealing and Public Release.--
       (1) Sealing.--The Archivist shall keep under seal each 
     covered record for 60 years beginning on the day after the 
     last day on which the covered records are required to be kept 
     under seal.
       (2) Public release.--After the conclusion of the 60-year 
     period described in paragraph (1), the covered records shall 
     be subject to public release and dissemination by the 
     Archivist pursuant to the usual protocols used by the 
     Archivist for the release of records.
                                 ______