[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 3 (Wednesday, January 6, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 921-924]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-169]


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DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 2953]


Privacy Act of 1974; Altered System of Records and Creation of a 
New System of Records

    Notice is hereby given that the Department of State proposes to 
alter an existing system of records, STATE-47; and also proposes to 
create a new system of records, STATE-34, pursuant to the provisions of 
the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. 522a (r)), and the Office 
of Management and Budget Circular No. A-130, Appendix I. The 
Department's report was filed with the Office of Management and Budget 
on December 23, 1998.
    It is intended that the current system STATE-47 will retain the 
name ``Senior Personnel Appointments Records.'' However, due to the 
expanded scope of the current system, the altered system description 
will include revisions and/or additions to each section except the 
location. The Department also proposes to implement a new system of 
records entitled ``Records of the Office of White House Liaison.'' 
Changes to the existing system description and the creation of a new 
system of records are proposed in order to reflect more accurately the 
Bureau of Personnel's and the Office of White House Liaison's record-
keeping systems for individuals who are pursuing non-career employment 
through the White House Liaison Office, and Presidential appointments 
through the Department of State.
    Any persons interested in commenting on the altered system of 
records or on the creation of the new system of records may do so by 
submitting comments in writing to Rosemary Melendy; Acting Chief; 
Programs and Policies Division; Office of IRM Programs and Services; 
Room 1512; Department of State; 2201 C Street, NW; Washington, DC 
20520-1512. These systems of records will be effective 40 days from the 
date of publication, unless we receive comments that will result in a 
contrary determination.
    The altered system description, ``Senior Personnel Appointments 
Records, STATE-47'' and the newly created system of records ``Records 
of the Office of White House Liaison, STATE-34'' will read as set forth 
below.

    Dated: December 23, 1998.
Jerome F. Tolson,
Acting Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Administration.
STATE-47

System name:
    Senior Personnel Appointments Records.

Security classification:
    Unclassified.

System location:
    Department of State; 2201 C Street, NW; Washington, DC 20520.

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
    Individuals--career members of the Foreign Service and non-career 
persons from outside the Department of State--who have been selected 
for a Presidential appointment or title. Appointments/titles include: 
Chiefs of mission, ranks and personal ranks of ambassador, principal 
officers of the Department of State, representatives and alternate 
representatives to the annual United Nations (UN) General Assembly and 
to the annual General Conference of the International Atomic Energy 
Agency. In addition, selectees who serve in Presidential appointed 
positions as representatives or alternate representatives on various UN 
boards and commissions such as the UN Human Rights Commission, the UN 
Commission on the Status of Women and UNICEF, and commissioners of the 
various international fisheries commissions are covered.

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    22 U.S.C. 2651a (Organization of the Department of State); 22 
U.S.C. 3921 (Management of the Foreign Service); and 5 U.S.C. 301 
(Management of the Department of State).

Categories of records in the system:
    Appointment documents are maintained first in a working file and, 
once appointed, the individual's material is moved to a country or 
position file. At the completion of the appointment, the documents are 
moved to a name-retrievable file.
    The files contain documents pertaining to an individual's 
Presidential appointment. Specifically, they include: Director General 
welcome/congratulatory letter; Candidate Information Summary; security 
clearance forms; a White House Personal Data Statement; Questionnaire 
for Sensitive Positions; Consumer Credit Check form; Financial 
Disclosure Report; Office of the Legal Adviser's certification of 
financial disclosure report; Congressional forms (Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee form, Federal Campaign Contribution Report); 
biographic summary; White House press release; agreement telegrams (if 
bilateral ambassadorial positions); memoranda to the Office of 
Legislative Affairs transmitting Congressional documents; copies of 
letters to home State Senators and to members of the Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee; nomination papers for the White House (transmittal 
memorandum, biographic summary, nomination, and a competence statement 
required under section 304(a)(4) of the Foreign Service Act); 
correspondence and/or e-mail exchanges with the individual regarding 
appointment processing; memoranda to the regional bureaus concerning 
selection and nomination; memoranda and appointment documents 
concerning federal employment for non-career selectees; resignation 
letters and responses from the President; official appointment notice 
prepared following Presidential attestation of an appointment; copies 
of memoranda, if applicable, concerning recall to the Foreign Service, 
waiver of the mandatory Foreign Service retirement age requirement, and 
termination of Chief of Mission services pursuant to section 401(b) of 
the Foreign Service Act.
    Accreditation documents are maintained in the country files for 
bilateral and multilateral chiefs of mission. These documents consist 
of: A Presidential letter of responsibility, a Secretary of State 
administrative letter of instruction; copies of the Letters of Credence 
and Recall which are presented to the host government or secretariat of 
a multilateral organization.

[[Page 922]]

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories 
of users and the purposes of such uses:
    The documents noted above that are contained in the appointment 
files are used for the clearance and appointment of an individual to a 
Presidential position/title. Specifically,
    --The original of the White House Personal Data Statement is sent 
to the White House Counsel's office for processing. Originals of a Tax 
Check Waiver, Acknowledgment/Consent memorandum, a FBI name check form 
and a FBI full field security form when the appointment is at the 
Assistant Secretary-level or above, are also sent to the White House 
Counsel's office. (Copies of these security release forms are not 
maintained in the files of Presidential appointments requiring Senate 
confirmation). A copy of the Candidate Information Summary is sent to 
the White House Presidential Personnel Office and to the Department's 
White House Liaison Office.
    --Security forms--Questionnaire for Sensitive Positions, and the 
Consumer Credit Check forms are sent to the Bureau of Diplomatic 
Security under cover of a memorandum requesting a security clearance. 
Original fingerprint charts (if appropriate) are also sent to the 
Bureau of Diplomatic Security where they are retained.
    --The Ethics Division of the Office of the Legal Adviser reviews 
and certifies the financial disclosure documents to ensure that there 
is no conflict of interest. As part of the review and certification, 
that office also receives copies of the Personal Data Statement; the 
Senate Foreign Relations Committee form; and, if a chief of mission 
position, the Federal Campaign Contribution Report. In addition, it may 
be necessary to share this information with the Office of Government 
Ethics.
    --Agreement telegrams document the initial request for a host 
government approval of a bilateral chief of mission and subsequent 
responses from overseas posts.
    --Biographic summaries, cleared by appointees, are sent to the 
White House and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
    --Nomination papers, including accreditation documents for 
bilateral chiefs of mission, are sent to the Office of the Executive 
Clerk in the White House who reviews the documents and obtains 
Presidential signature at the appropriate time. The nomination paper 
and the competence statement for chiefs of mission are sent to the U.S. 
Senate once White House final clearance is forthcoming.
    --Congressional documentation is prepared and transmitted to the 
Office of Legislative Affairs and that office then submits the material 
to the U.S. Senate at the appropriate time.
    --Memoranda sent to the regional bureaus serve as notification 
documents of the status of an appointment and transmit any needed 
appointment briefing materials.
    --Official notification memoranda of an appointment are addressed 
to the appropriate Bureau Executive Director, with copies to various 
administrative and personnel offices in order to advise such offices of 
a Presidential appointment.
    --The original letter of resignation of a Presidential appointee is 
sent under cover of a transmittal memorandum to the Office of White 
House Correspondence. That office sends back a Presidential response 
which is forwarded to the appointee.
    --The original accreditation documents for a bilateral chief of 
mission are hand-carried to post by the chief of mission for 
presentation to the host government.
    --Employment documents for non-career selectees are processed and 
forwarded to the appropriate offices in the Bureau of Personnel.

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining 
and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
    Computer media and hard copy.

Retrievability:
    By individual name, country or position title.

Safeguards:
    All employees of the Department of State have undergone a thorough 
security background investigation. Access to the Department and its 
annexes is controlled by security guards and admission is limited to 
those individuals possessing a valid identification card or individuals 
under proper escort. All records containing personal information are 
maintained in secured file cabinets or in restricted areas, access to 
which is limited to authorized personnel. Access to computerized files 
is password-protected and under the direct supervision of the system 
manager. The system manager has the capability of printing audit trails 
of access from the computer media, thereby permitting regular and ad 
hoc monitoring of computer usage.

Retention and disposal:
    These records will be maintained until they become inactive at 
which time they will be retired or destroyed in accordance with 
published record schedules of the Department of State and as approved 
by the National Archives and Records Administration. More specified 
information may be obtained by writing to the Director, Office of IRM 
Programs and Services; Room 1512; Department of State; 2201 C Street, 
NW; Washington, DC 20520-1512.

System manager(s) and address:
    The Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of 
Personnel; Department of State; 2201 C Street, NW; Washington, DC 
20520.

Notification procedures:
    Individuals who have reason to believe that the Bureau of 
Personnel's Presidential Appointments Staff Office might have records 
pertaining to themselves should write to the Director, Office of IRM 
Programs and Services (address above). The individual must specify that 
he/she wishes the Senior Personnel Appointments Records to be checked. 
At a minimum, the individuals must include: Name; date and place of 
birth; Social Security number; approximate dates of employment with the 
Department of State particularly the time during which the individual 
held a Presidential appointment or was in process for a Presidential 
appointment; current mailing address and zip code; and signature.

Record access and amendment procedures:
    Individuals who wish to gain access to or amend records pertaining 
to themselves should write to the Director, Office of IRM Programs and 
Services (address above).

Record source categories:
    These records contain information obtained directly from the 
individual who is the subject of these records, the Bureau of 
Personnel, Office of the Legal Adviser, the Bureau of Diplomatic 
Security, U.S. embassies (in the case of agreement telegrams), and/or 
the White House.

System exempted from certain provisions of the Privacy Act:
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(5), certain records in this system 
contain confidential source information and are exempted from 5 U.S.C. 
522a(c)(3), (d), (e)(1), (e)(4)(G), (H) and (I), and (f). See 
Department of State Rules published in the Federal Register.
STATE-34

System name:
    Records of the Office of White House Liaison.

[[Page 923]]

Security classification:
    Classified and unclassified.

System location:
    Department of State; 2201 C Street, NW; Washington, DC 20520.

Categories of individuals covered by the system:
    Candidates who are being or would like to be considered for non-
career appointments within the Department of State including 
Presidential appointments requiring Senate confirmation, non-career 
Senior Executive Service, Schedule C and limited term non-career 
appointments. Individuals who have been selected for non-career 
appointments within the Department and who are at various stages of the 
employment approval and confirmation clearance processes. Individuals 
who currently hold a non-career position within the Department and some 
career ambassadors.

Authority for maintenance of the system:
    22 U.S.C. 2651a (Organization of the Department of State); 22 
U.S.C. 3921 (Management of the Foreign Service); 5 U.S.C. 301 
(Management of the Department of State).

Categories of records in the system:
    The files contain documents pertaining to an individual's 
prospective and/or confirmed Presidential appointment. Specifically, 
they include: Candidate Information Summary; Acknowledgement and 
Consent Regarding Intent to Appoint form; Declaration for Federal 
Employment (OF-306); Optional Application for Federal Employment (OF-
612); and Public Financial Disclosure Report (SF-278), Confidential 
Financial Disclosure Report (OGE-450); Office of the Legal Adviser's 
Certification of Financial Disclosure Report; security clearance forms 
including Consent to FBI Investigation form, FBI Name Check Waiver 
form; White House Personal Data Statement; Questionnaire for Sensitive 
Positions (SF-86); Disclosure and Authorization pertaining to Consumer 
Reports pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act form; IRS Tax Check 
Waiver form; Congressional forms (Senate Foreign Relations Committee 
questionnaire, competence statements for the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee, Federal Campaign Contribution Report); memoranda to the 
Office of Legislative Affairs transmitting Congressional documents; 
letters of recommendation; biographic summary; White House draft press 
release; agrement telegrams (if bilateral ambassadorial positions); 
employment documents for non-career selectees; correspondence, 
memoranda and/or e-mail exchanges relative to appointment processing, 
selection and nomination; transmittal correspondence from the private 
sector, other government agencies, and the Executive and Legislative 
branches of Federal government; official appointment notice prepared 
following Presidential attestation of an appointment; documents related 
to accretion of duties requests including requests for approval 
submitted to the White House and internal Department processing of the 
accretion of duties; position description; Foreign Service Residence 
and Dependency Report, Race and National Origin Identification, and 
resignation letters and responses from the President.

Routine uses of records maintained in the system, including categories 
of users and the purposes of such uses:
    The information in the Records of the White House Liaison Office 
(WHLO) is used for the consideration, review, clearance and appointment 
of an individual to a Presidential position/title. Specifically,
    --Background information such as resumes, applications, letters of 
recommendation and Congressional Committee documents are reviewed by 
WHLO, the Bureau of Personnel, and the Bureau of Legislative Affairs 
for consideration of an appointment; released to or discussed in 
consultation with Bureaus that have vacancies for which the individual 
is being considered, and when appropriate released to the White House 
Office of Presidential Personnel for approval/disapproval.
    --Responses to letters of recommendation are sent to the individual 
offering the recommendation and correspondence are forwarded to the 
Bureau of Legislative Affairs for tracking purposes.
    --Background information is also used by WHLO to draft 
documentation related to the appointment and in discussions with the 
candidate; it may be provided to the Bureau of Personnel to determine 
salary levels and to the appropriate Bureau Executive Office for 
assignment processing.
    --Competency statements for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee 
are drafted by WHLO using the individual's resume and biographical 
information and once approved by the Bureau of Legislative Affairs, the 
statement is forwarded to the White House Office of Presidential 
Personnel.
    --Security forms are provided to the Bureau of Diplomatic Security 
for appropriate processing.
    --The Public Financial Disclosure Report and the Confidential 
Financial Disclosure Report are provided to the Department's Office of 
the Legal Adviser and to the Office of Government Ethics for a conflict 
of interest analysis.
    --Information regarding the accretion of duties is given to the 
White House Office of Presidential Personnel for approval and to the 
Bureau of Personnel for processing.
    --Press releases drafted by WHLO are forwarded to the White House 
Office of Presidential Personnel to be released to the press by the 
White House Press Office when appropriate.

Policies and practices for storing, retrieving, accessing, retaining 
and disposing of records in the system:
Storage:
    Computer media and hard copy.

Retrievability:
    By individual name, country or position title.

Safeguards:
    All employees of the Department of State have undergone a thorough 
security background investigation. Access to the Department and its 
annexes is controlled by security guards and admission is limited to 
those individuals possessing a valid identification card or individuals 
under proper escort. All records containing personal information are 
maintained in secured file cabinets or in restricted areas, access to 
which is limited to authorized personnel. Access to computerized files 
is password-protected and under the direct supervision of the system 
manager. The system manager has the capability of printing audit trails 
of access from the computer media, thereby permitting regular and ad 
hoc monitoring of computer usage.

Retention and disposal:
    These records will be maintained until they become inactive at 
which time they will be retired or destroyed in accordance with 
published record schedules of the Department of State and as approved 
by the National Archives and Records Administration. More specified 
information may be obtained by writing to the Director, Office of IRM 
Programs and Services; Room 1512; Department of State; 2201 C Street, 
NW; Washington, D.C. 20520-1512.

[[Page 924]]

System manager(s) and address:
    Senior Adviser to the Secretary and White House Liaison; Room 6311; 
Department of State; 2201 C Street, NW; Washington, DC 20520.

Notification procedures:
    Individuals who have reason to believe that the Office of the White 
House Liaison might have records pertaining to themselves should write 
to the Director, Office of IRM Programs and Services (address above). 
The individual must specify that he/she wishes the Records of the White 
House Liaison Office to be checked. At a minimum, the individuals must 
include: name; date and place of birth; Social Security number; 
approximate dates of employment with the Department of State 
particularly the time during which the individual was a candidate or 
held a non-career Presidential appointment; current mailing address and 
zip code; and signature.

Record access and amendment procedures:
    Individuals who wish to gain access to or amend records pertaining 
to themselves should write to the Director, Office of IRM Programs and 
Services (address above).

Record source categories:
    These records contain information obtained directly from the 
individual who is the subject of these records; Office of the Legal 
Adviser; Bureau of Diplomatic Security; Bureau of Personnel; Bureau of 
Legislative Affairs; the White House Office of Presidential Personnel; 
and/or individuals who know or worked with the subject and may offer 
recommendations.

System exempted from certain provisions of the Privacy Act:
    Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a (k)(5), certain records in this system 
contain confidential source information and are exempted from 5 U.S.C. 
522a(c)(3), (d), (e)(l), (e)(4)(G), (H) and (I), and (f). See 
Department of State Rules published in the Federal Register.

[FR Doc. 99-169 Filed 1-5-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-05-P