[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 163 (Monday, August 24, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 45095]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-22674]


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NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION


Lab Test On Kennedy Assassination Evidence

AGENCY: National Archives and Records Administration.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) will 
work with the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board 
(Review Board) to arrange the analysis in an FBI laboratory of a piece 
of evidence from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
    The evidence item is Warren Commission Exhibit (CE) #567, which is 
the nose portion of a bullet from the limousine seat in which the 
President was riding and which consists of five fragments--one larger 
copper and lead fragment and four smaller pieces of possibly organic 
material. The larger fragment still has ``fibrous/plant debris'' 
adhering to it. The testing will be done on the fibrous debris, not the 
fragment itself, and on the four small pieces of possibly organic 
material. The purpose of the test will be to determine specifically the 
composition of the fibrous material and the small fragments.
    The testing of the fiber was recommended by the Firearms 
Examination Panel of the House Select Committee on Assassinations 
(HSCA) in 1979. This recommendation was not in the published Final 
Report of the Committee and thus the testing was never done. NARA 
agrees with the Review Board that conducting limited testing to 
complete this ``unfinished business'' is in the public interest.
    The fibrous material may be from clothing the president was 
wearing, or the fiber may be from material in which the bullet was 
wrapped after the assassination, or the tests may be inconclusive. NARA 
chose the FBI laboratories for the analysis as the best equipped and 
most expertly staffed for the purpose. To assure objectivity, the 
Review Board will select one or more independent observers to verify 
the appropriateness of the procedure and to be present throughout the 
testing, each phase of which will be thoroughly documented. The report 
on the results of the testing will be made public.

    Dated: August 17, 1998.
John W. Carlin,
Archivist of the United States.
[FR Doc. 98-22674 Filed 8-21-98; 8:45 am]
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