Dear Mr. Kelly
Thank you for your recent e-mail raising your
concerns about the sufficiency of the JFK Assassination Records Collection
database that is available on archives.gov at the following url:
http://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/seach.html
The Archivist forwarded your e-mail to be for direct
reply to you.
As I’m sure you know, the JFK database was created
in response to the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. In section
5(d) of the Act NARA was required to create “a uniform system of electronic
records” comprising identification aids created for each record transmitted to
the Archivist. The Act did not stipulate what data fields should be included on
the identification aid.
NARA met the obligations of the Act when it created
a uniform system and made it available to the agencies that were transmitting
the assassination related document to the NARA for inclusion in the Collection.
The originating agencies entered the data fields for each document prior to
transfer and transferred the data at the same time the records were accessioned
by NARA. NARA then entered the data into the JFK Master System and has
maintained that system, as well as the public use version on archives.gov since
that time.
Accordingly, we believe that NARA has fully complied
with the requirements of the Act.
NARA has freely acknowledged, however, that the
“current status” field is out of date, and we realized that this frustrates you
and other researchers.
The Special Access and FOIA unit that is responsible
for the constitution of the Collection and maintenance of the database has
extensive responsibilities for records outside of the Collection. Updates have
unfortunately been delayed due to other FOIA review and access policy demands
on their limited resources.
I am pleased to inform you that the Special Access
and FOIA unit has consulted a team to process all of the JFK documents that are
being withheld for release by 2017 in accordance with the JFK Act (the only
basis to withhold records beyond that time would be if the President personally
certifies continued postponement, under section 5(g)(2)(D) of the JFK Act).
As part of that process, the team is currently
updating the JFK Collection Master System.
We then intend to update the public use version once
the data has been corrected, although we do not expect the update to be
complete until 2017.
We welcome any additional input you would like to
provide us about deficiencies in the database, so that we can be sure to
correct them.
Sincerely,
Martha Wagner Murphy
Martha Wagner Murphy
Chief,
Special Access and FOIA Staff
National
Archives at College Park
BILL KELLY RESPONDS:
Dear
Martha Murphy,
Thank
you for inviting me and other researchers to provide additional input on the
deficiencies in the JFK Collection database as well as the opportunity to
comment on matters of NARA policies and procedures regarding the JFK Act.
A number
of speakers commented on the data base t a recent conference in Washington D.C.
on the 50th anniversary of the release of the Warren Report, one
saying it just “didn’t work” and another saying it is “basically useless,” so
your acknowledgement that the “current status” of the database frustrates
researchers is an understatement.
The idea
that the CIA could accelerate the release of thousands of documents in 2003 that
were due for release in 2010 proves that such acceleration is possible and
there’s no excuse why the remaining sealed JFK Assassination records can’t be
processed by the 2013 National Declassification Review system already in place.
It’s also hard to imagine how hard it would be to update the Master System and
the public access database at that time.
Beyond
the basic frustration of an un-useable public database, we have found that
Secret Service records reportedly destroyed have folders that are marked
“withheld,” and that some thought destroyed have been located among the private
papers of former agents (Blaine), while other government assassination records have
been located among the private papers of former chief counsel Richard Sprague,
Esq. and former WC attorney Howard Willins, and there appears to be little
attempt to acquire these records for inclusion the JFK Collection as required
by the law. Why aren’t the JFK Assassination records in the hands of former
government employees being pursued, acquired and included in the collection? I
believe Blaine and other Secret Service agents have more records and I suspect
so does DOD historian Dr. Alfred Goldberg.
Why
can’t you scan and post on line the most frequently requested documents rather
than continuing to manually respond to the same requests over and over?
Why
can’t you tell us how many documents are still being withheld, but you can’t even
though Congress required the Review Board to publish a list of such records in
the Federal Register?
Why
can’t you provide a printout of all 1,100 CIA NBR records that are postponed
until 2017?
Why
can’t you remove the remaining redactions in the records previously released?
Why
can’t you tell us the number of assassination records that have been destroyed
and are missing?
It is frustrating to have NARA say “We cannot confirm any ONI
records are in fact missing from the collection,” when we know of many that
aren’t in the collection now, and we know how determined ONI was to exclude all
of its assassination records from the collection. You must acknowledge they are
missing before you even start to look for them.
It would
be good for the NARA JFK Collection staff to meet with or continue a dialog
with a focus group of researchers that we have informally formed so we can
continue to advise you as we get closer to 2017.
Giving
select researchers access to the Master System directory would help, especially
those researchers who are compiling lists of records withheld, destroyed and
missing, as well as those who are creating a guide and index to the collection,
something that Congress and the JFK Act requires the Archivist to do:
Final
Report ARRB p. 184-5 - Section 4: President John F. Kennedy Assassination
Records Collection at the National Archives and Records Administration. (a) In
General (1)….The Collection shall consist of record copies of all Government
records relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which shall
be transmitted to the National Archives in accordance with section 2107 of
title 44, United States Code. The
Archivist shall prepare and publish a subject guidebook and index to the
collection….”
It
doesn’t say anything about an unuseable searchable data base or Master System
that the public can’t have access to. So here we are decades after Congress
passed this law – and there is still no prepared and published subject
guidebook and index, something that researchers themselves are apparently going
to have to do.
Besides preparing our own guidebook and index, and continuing
the on-going dialogs between the NARA staff and researchers, the only thing we
can do is to file FOIA requests and appeals and ask Congress to conduct its
required oversight of the JFK Act – hold hearings and obtain the testimony of
those responsible for the implementing the law and destroying and wrongfully
withholding records.
Why
hasn’t NARA requested Congress to oversee the JFK Act and enforce the law
despite the reticence of almost all of the government agencies who waited out
the ARRB?
Final
Report – “Section 4: (e) Oversight – The Committee on Government Operations of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the
Senate shall have continuing oversight jurisdiction with respect to the
collection.”
Why
aren’t these committees doing their job and overseeing the enforcement of the
JFK Act, which according to the law, “…continue in effect until such time as
the Archivist certifies to the President and Congress that all assassination
records have been made available to the public in accordance with this Act.”
3 comments:
Thank you, Bill. Who should like minded people write to, to also voice support your efforts? What can be done?
Joel Gruhn
Well done Bill. Another suggested approach: Craft a specific (less wordy version of these questions) that can be released to the press, for use with each 2016 presidential candidate to ask what they will specifically do to ensure compliance with the law. Develop a campaign around the one question, in the hopes that it will eventually be issued by Gwen Ifill (or other debate moderator) to each presidential candidate in one of the fall 2016 debates and perhaps also in the primary debates for each party. Put the question to as many candidates as possible, early and often.
Mr. Loving. There is only one candidate that needs to be asked about compliance in 2016. Jeb Bush!
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