COINTELPRO Full Disclosure Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2998 To require the public disclosure of COINTELPRO records, to establish a COINTELPRO Records Collection, and to establish the COINTELPRO Records Review Board, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 4, 2021 Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Transpor- tation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with- in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the public disclosure of COINTELPRO records, to establish a COINTELPRO Records Collection, and to establish the COINTELPRO Records Review Board, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘COINTELPRO Full Disclosure Act’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2998 IH Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Public disclosure of COINTELPRO records. Sec. 3. COINTELPRO Records Collection at the National Archives. Sec. 4. Establishment and powers of the COINTELPRO Records Review Board. Sec. 5. COINTELPRO Records Review Board personnel. Sec. 6. Review of records by the COINTELPRO Records Review Board. Sec. 7. Disclosure of other information and additional study. Sec. 8. Rules of construction. Sec. 9. Redesignation. Sec. 10. References. Sec. 11. Funding. Sec. 12. Definitions. SEC. 2. PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF COINTELPRO RECORDS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 2 (b), not later than 6 months after the date of the enact- 3 ment of this Act, the head of a Government Office shall 4 fully disclose to the public each COINTELPRO record in 5 the possession or control of the Government Office. 6 (b) EXCEPTION.—The requirement under subsection 7 (a) shall not apply to a COINTELPRO record if the head 8 of the Government Office determines that the full disclo- 9 sure of such record, or particular information within such 10 record, would clearly and demonstrably be expected to 11 cause harm. 12 (c) PARTIAL DISCLOSURE.—If the head of a Govern- 13 ment Office determines in accordance with subsection (b) 14 that the requirements of subsection (a) do not apply with 15 respect to a COINTELPRO record, the head of the Gov- 16 ernment Office shall disclose to the public in consultation 17 with the originating body, and to the extent doing so 18 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2998 IH would not clearly and demonstrably be expected to cause 1 harm— 2 (1) any reasonably segregable particular infor- 3 mation in a COINTELPRO record; 4 (2) a substitute record for that information; or 5 (3) a summary of the COINTELPRO record. 6 (d) REVIEW BY BOARD.—If a Government Office de- 7 termines that the requirements of subsection (a) do not 8 apply with respect to a COINTELPRO record, such 9 record shall be transmitted to the Review Board for review 10 in accordance with section 4(b). 11 (e) FULL DISCLOSURE OF COINTELPRO RECORD 12 REQUIRED.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 14 552a of title 5, United States Code, each 15 COINTELPRO record that is not fully disclosed to 16 the public as of the date on which the Review Board 17 terminates under section 4(n) shall be fully disclosed 18 to the public and made available in the Collection 19 not later than 25 years after the date of the enact- 20 ment of this Act unless— 21 (A) the head of the entity of the Federal 22 Government in the possession of control of the 23 record, the head of a Government office, the 24 head of the originating body, or the head of an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2998 IH executive agency recommends in writing the ex- 1 emption of the record or particular information 2 within the record, because the disclosure of 3 which would clearly and demonstrably be ex- 4 pected to— 5 (i) cause identifiable or describable 6 damage to national security, military de- 7 fense, law enforcement, intelligence oper- 8 ations, or the conduct of foreign relations 9 that is of such gravity that further post- 10 poning the disclosure of the record out- 11 weighs the public interest in disclosure; or 12 (ii) reveal information described in 13 paragraphs (1) through (9) of section 14 3.3(b) of Executive Order 13526 (75 Fed. 15 Reg. 707; relating to classified national se- 16 curity information); 17 (B) the written recommendation described 18 in subparagraph (A)— 19 (i) not later than 180 days before the 20 date that is 25 years after the date of the 21 enactment of this Act, is provided to— 22 (I) the Archivist; 23 (II) the President, if the record 24 is in the possession or control of an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2998 IH agency in the executive branch of the 1 Federal Government; 2 (III) the Chief Justice of the Su- 3 preme Court, if the record is in the 4 possession or control of an agency in 5 the judicial branch of the Federal 6 Government; 7 (IV) the Speaker of the House of 8 Representatives, if the record is in the 9 possession or control of an office of 10 the House of Representatives; 11 (V) the President Pro Tempore 12 of the Senate, if the record is in the 13 possession or control of an office of 14 the Senate; and 15 (VI) the Speaker of the House of 16 Representatives and the President Pro 17 Tempore of the Senate, if the record 18 is in the possession or control of an 19 office of the legislative branch of the 20 Federal Government not described 21 under subclauses (IV) and (V); and 22 (ii) includes— 23 (I) a justification of the rec- 24 ommendation to exempt the record, or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2998 IH particular information within the 1 record; and 2 (II) a recommended date on 3 which, or a specified occurrence fol- 4 lowing which, the record, or particular 5 information within the record may be 6 appropriately disclosed to the public 7 under this Act; and 8 (C) the Archivist agrees with the written 9 recommendation described in subparagraph (A). 10 (2) NOTIFICATION.—If the Archivist does not 11 agree with the recommendation described in sub- 12 paragraph (A), the Archivist shall notify the person 13 making the recommendation not later than 90 days 14 before the date that is 25 years after the date of en- 15 actment of this Act. 16 (3) OVERRIDE OF DECISION BY ARCHIVIST.— 17 (A) AUTHORITY TO OVERRIDE DECISION 18 BY ARCHIVIST.—The following individuals may 19 override a decision of the Archivist regarding a 20 written recommendation under paragraph (1): 21 (i) The President, if the record is in 22 the possession or control of an agency in 23 the executive branch of the Federal Gov- 24 ernment. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2998 IH (ii) The Chief Justice of the Supreme 1 Court, if the record is in the possession or 2 control of an agency in the judicial branch 3 of the Federal Government. 4 (iii) The Speaker of the House of 5 Representatives, if the record is in the pos- 6 session or control of an office of the House 7 of Representatives. 8 (iv) The President Pro Tempore of 9 the Senate, if the record is in the posses- 10 sion or control of an office of the Senate. 11 (v) The Speaker of the House of Rep- 12 resentatives and the President Pro Tem- 13 pore of the Senate acting jointly, if the 14 record is in the possession or control of an 15 agency in the legislative branch of the Fed- 16 eral Government. 17 (B) NOTICE.—If an individual overrides a 18 decision described under subparagraph (A), the 19 individual shall notify the person making the 20 recommendation not later than 90 days before 21 the date that is 25 years after the date of en- 22 actment of this Act. 23 (f) NOTICE REGARDING PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2998 IH (1) FINDING.—Congress finds that the public 1 release of case-related documents and information 2 without notice may significantly affect the victims of 3 the events to which the case relates and their next 4 of kin. 5 (2) NOTICE.—Not later than 7 days before a 6 COINTELPRO record is publicly disclosed, the enti- 7 ty of the Federal Government that has possession or 8 control of the COINTELPRO record shall take all 9 reasonable efforts to provide the COINTELPRO 10 record to the victims of the events to which the 11 COINTELPRO record relates, or their next of kin. 12 (g) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘cause 13 harm’’ means to— 14 (1) cause identifiable or describable damage to 15 national security, military defense, law enforcement, 16 intelligence operations, or the conduct of foreign re- 17 lations that is of such gravity that it outweighs the 18 public interest in disclosure; 19 (2) reveal information described in paragraphs 20 (1) through (9) of section 3.3(b) of Executive Order 21 13526 (75 Fed. Reg. 707; relating to classified na- 22 tional security information); 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2998 IH (3)(A) reveal the name or identity of a living in- 1 dividual who provided confidential information to the 2 United States; and 3 (B) pose a substantial risk of harm to that indi- 4 vidual; 5 (4) constitute an unwarranted invasion of per- 6 sonal privacy; 7 (5)(A) compromise the existence of an under- 8 standing of confidentiality currently requiring pro- 9 tection between a Government agent and a cooper- 10 ating individual or group; and 11 (B) be so harmful that the understanding of 12 confidentiality outweighs the public interest; 13 (6) endanger the life or physical safety of any 14 individual; 15 (7) interfere with ongoing law enforcement pro- 16 ceedings; or 17 (8) reveal information as prohibited by laws and 18 policies protecting criminal records of juveniles. 19 SEC. 3. COINTELPRO RECORDS COLLECTION AT THE NA- 20 TIONAL ARCHIVES. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.— 22 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COINTELPRO 23 RECORDS COLLECTION.—Not later than 60 days 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2998 IH after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ar- 1 chivist shall— 2 (A) commence establishing a collection of 3 COINTELPRO records to be known as the 4 ‘‘COINTELPRO Records Collection’’ that en- 5 sures the physical integrity and original prove- 6 nance of all records in the Collection; 7 (B) commence preparing and publishing a 8 subject guidebook and index to the Collection; 9 and 10 (C) establish criteria for Government of- 11 fices to follow when transmitting copies of 12 COINTELPRO records to the Archivist (to in- 13 clude required metadata) under subsection (d). 14 (2) CONTENTS OF COLLECTION.—The Collec- 15 tion shall include— 16 (A) a copy of each COINTELPRO record 17 transmitted to the Archivist under subsection 18 (d); 19 (B) any COINTELPRO record fully dis- 20 closed to the public before the date of the en- 21 actment of the Act; and 22 (C) all Review Board records, as required 23 under this Act transmitted under section 24 4(l)(3). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2998 IH (b) DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS.—All COINTELPRO 1 records transmitted to the Archivist— 2 (1) not later than 60 days after the trans- 3 mission of the record to the Archivist, shall be avail- 4 able to the public for inspection and copying at the 5 National Archives; and 6 (2) shall be prioritized for digitization by the 7 National Archives. 8 (c) FEES FOR COPYING.—The Archivist shall— 9 (1) use efficient electronic means when possible; 10 (2) charge fees for copying COINTELPRO 11 records in the Collection; and 12 (3) promulgate regulations in accordance with 13 the standard established under section 552(a)(4) of 14 title 5, United States Code, for establishing proce- 15 dures and guidelines for determining when such fees 16 should be waived. 17 (d) TRANSMISSION TO THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES.— 18 Each Government office shall, in accordance with the cri- 19 teria established by the Archivist under subsection 20 (a)(1)(C) as soon as is reasonably practicable, and in any 21 event not later than 2 years after the date of the enact- 22 ment of this Act, transmit to the Archivist in an electronic 23 and searchable form a copy of each COINTELPRO record 24 that can be partially or fully disclosed to the public in ac- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2998.IH H2998 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2998 IH cordance with subsection (b), including any such record 1 that is publicly available on the date of the enactment of 2 this Act. 3 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT AND POWERS OF THE 4 COINTELPRO RECORDS REVIEW BOARD. 5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established, as an 6 independent agency in the executive branch of the Federal 7 Government, a board to be known as the COINTELPRO 8 Records Review Board. 9 (b) DUTIES OF THE REVIEW BOARD.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Review Board shall— 11 (A) review a determination by a Govern- 12 ment Office to partially disclose a 13 COINTELPRO record in accordance with sec- 14 tion 2(c); and 15 (B) if such record is in the possession or 16 control of an entity in the executive branch of 17 the Government, make a recommendation to the 18 President on whether the record— 19 (i) should have been partially dis- 20 closed in accordance with section 2(c); or 21 (ii) fully disclosed in accordance with 22 section 2(a). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]