[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 129 (Friday, July 7, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 43247-43249]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14499]


 
 
                         Presidential Documents 
 
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 129 / Friday, July 7, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents  

 ___________________________________________________________________

 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 43247]]

                Memorandum of June 30, 2023

                
Certification Regarding Disclosure of Information 
                in Certain Records Related to the Assassination of 
                President John F. Kennedy

                Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and 
                Agencies

                Section 1. Policy. In the three decades since the 
                President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records 
                Collection Act of 1992 (44 U.S.C. 2107 note) (the 
                ``Act'') was enacted, the United States Government has 
                undertaken a comprehensive review of its records and 
                has strived to make available to the public thousands 
                of classified documents that provide a fuller 
                understanding of the tragic assassination of President 
                John F. Kennedy. As I have reiterated throughout my 
                Presidency, I fully support the Act's aim to maximize 
                transparency by disclosing all information in records 
                concerning the assassination, except when the strongest 
                possible reasons counsel otherwise. Executive 
                departments and agencies (agencies) have worked 
                meticulously over thousands of hours of review to 
                ensure that the American people have access to every 
                single word that is appropriate for release under the 
                standards of the Act. With my final certification made 
                in this memorandum--the last required under the Act--
                and definitive plans for future disclosures, my 
                Administration is fulfilling the promise of 
                transparency to the American people.

                Sec. 2. Background. (a) The Act permits the continued 
                postponement of public disclosure of information in 
                records concerning President Kennedy's assassination 
                only when postponement remains necessary to protect 
                against an identifiable harm to the military defense, 
                intelligence operations, law enforcement, or the 
                conduct of foreign relations that is of such gravity 
                that it outweighs the public interest in disclosure. 
                Agencies have applied this statutory standard when 
                proposing the continued postponement of public 
                disclosure of specific information, and the National 
                Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has reviewed 
                each of these redactions to determine whether NARA 
                agrees that these redactions continue to meet the 
                statutory standard. In the Presidential Memorandum of 
                December 15, 2022 (Certifications Regarding Disclosure 
                of Information in Certain Records Related to the 
                Assassination of President John F. Kennedy) (December 
                2022 Memorandum), I certified the temporary continued 
                postponement of public disclosure of redacted 
                information in a small number of records covered by the 
                Act. At the time, the Acting Archivist of the United 
                States (Acting Archivist) advised that a limited number 
                of records that were the subject of agency proposals 
                for temporary continued postponement warranted further 
                review to ensure that information from these records is 
                disclosed to the maximum extent possible, consistent 
                with the standards of the Act. In the December 2022 
                Memorandum, consistent with that advice, I directed 
                agencies to continue to work with NARA to review these 
                records to determine if additional information proposed 
                for redaction could be disclosed.

                    (b) On May 1, 2023, the Acting Archivist informed 
                me that the review process was complete and recommended 
                that I postpone the public release of certain redacted 
                information in the records certified for temporary 
                postponement of public release in the December 2022 
                Memorandum.

                Sec. 3. Certification. In light of the recommendation 
                for continued postponement of public release of 
                information in the records identified in section 2(b) 
                of this memorandum under the statutory standard, I 
                hereby certify,

[[Page 43248]]

                by the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, including section 5(g)(2)(D) of the Act, that 
                continued postponement of public disclosure of that 
                information is necessary to protect against 
                identifiable harms to the military defense, 
                intelligence operations, law enforcement, and the 
                conduct of foreign relations that are of such gravity 
                that they outweigh the public interest in disclosure. 
                All information within these records that has been 
                proposed for continued postponement under section 
                5(g)(2)(D) of the Act shall accordingly be withheld 
                from public disclosure. Future release of the 
                information in these records shall occur in a manner 
                consistent with the Transparency Plans described in 
                section 5 of this memorandum.

                Sec. 4. Release. Any information currently withheld 
                from public disclosure under section 4 of the December 
                2022 Memorandum that is not subject to the 
                certification in section 3 of this memorandum shall be 
                released to the public by June 30, 2023.

                Sec. 5. Transparency Plans. As part of their review, 
                each agency prepared a plan for the eventual release of 
                information (Transparency Plan) to ensure that 
                information would continue to be disclosed over time as 
                the identified harm associated with release of the 
                information dissipates. Each Transparency Plan details 
                the event-based or circumstance-based conditions that 
                will trigger the public disclosure of currently 
                postponed information by the National Declassification 
                Center (NDC) at NARA. These Transparency Plans were 
                reviewed by NARA, and the Acting Archivist previously 
                advised me that use of the Transparency Plans by the 
                NDC will ensure appropriate continued release of 
                information covered by the Act. In the December 2022 
                Memorandum, I directed that the Transparency Plans 
                submitted by agencies be used by the NDC to conduct 
                future reviews of any information that has been 
                postponed from public disclosure. On May 1, 2023, the 
                Acting Archivist recommended continued use of agencies' 
                Transparency Plans to release information covered by 
                the Act. Therefore, I direct the NDC to continue to use 
                the Transparency Plans to conduct future reviews of any 
                information covered by the Act that has been postponed 
                from public disclosure. The Transparency Plans will 
                ensure that the public will have access to the maximum 
                amount of information while continuing to protect 
                against identifiable harms to the military defense, 
                intelligence operations, law enforcement, and the 
                conduct of foreign relations under the standards of the 
                Act.

[[Page 43249]]

                Sec. 6. Publication. The Archivist of the United States 
                is hereby authorized and directed to publish this 
                memorandum in the Federal Register.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    Washington, June 30, 2023

[FR Doc. 2023-14499
Filed 7-6-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 7515-01-P