“(a) Establishment.—There is established as an independent agency a board to be known as the Assassinations Records Review Board.
“(b) Appointment.—(1) The President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint, without regard to political affiliation, 5 citizens to serve as members of the Review Board to ensure and facilitate the review, transmission to the Archivist, and public disclosure of Government records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
“(2) The President shall make nominations to the Review Board not later than 90 calendar days after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 26, 1992].
“(3) If the Senate votes not to confirm a nomination to the Review Board, the President shall make an additional nomination not later than 30 days thereafter.
“(4)(A) The President shall make nominations to the Review Board after considering persons recommended by the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the Society of American Archivists, and the American Bar Association.
“(B) If an organization described in subparagraph (A) does not recommend at least 2 nominees meeting the qualifications stated in paragraph (5) by the date that is 45 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the President shall consider for nomination the persons recommended by the other organizations described in subparagraph (A).
“(C) The President may request an organization described in subparagraph (A) to submit additional nominations.
“(5) Persons nominated to the Review Board—“(A) shall be impartial private citizens, none of whom is presently employed by any branch of the Government, and none of whom shall have had any previous involvement with any official investigation or inquiry conducted by a Federal, State, or local government, relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy;
“(B) shall be distinguished persons of high national professional reputation in their respective fields who are capable of exercising the independent and objective judgment necessary to the fulfillment of their role in ensuring and facilitating the review, transmission to the public, and public disclosure of records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and who possess an appreciation of the value of such material to the public, scholars, and government; and
“(C) shall include at least 1 professional historian and 1 attorney.
“(c) Security Clearances.—(1) All Review Board nominees shall be granted the necessary security clearances in an accelerated manner subject to the standard procedures for granting such clearances.
“(2) All nominees shall qualify for the necessary security clearance prior to being considered for confirmation by the Committee on Governmental Affairs [now Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs] of the Senate.
“(d) Confirmation Hearings.—(1) The Committee on Governmental Affairs [now Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs] of the Senate shall hold confirmation hearings within 30 days in which the Senate is in session after the nomination of 3 Review Board members.
“(2) The Committee on Governmental Affairs shall vote on the nominations within 14 days in which the Senate is in session after the confirmation hearings, and shall report its results to the full Senate immediately.
“(3) The Senate shall vote on each nominee to confirm or reject within 14 days in which the Senate is in session after reported by the Committee on Governmental Affairs.
“(e) Vacancy.—A vacancy on the Review Board shall be filled in the same manner as specified for original appointment within 30 days of the occurrence of the vacancy.
“(f) Chairperson.—The Members of the Review Board shall elect one of its members as chairperson at its initial meeting.
“(g) Removal of Review Board Member.—(1) No member of the Review Board shall be removed from office, other than—“(A) by impeachment and conviction; or
“(B) by the action of the President for inefficiency, neglect of duty, malfeasance in office, physical disability, mental incapacity, or any other condition that substantially impairs the performance of the member’s duties.
“(2)(A) If a member of the Review Board is removed from office, and that removal is by the President, not later than 10 days after the removal the President shall submit to the Committee on Government Operations [now Committee on Oversight and Accountability] of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Governmental Affairs [now Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs] of the Senate a report specifying the facts found and the grounds for the removal.
“(B) The President shall publish in the Federal Register a report submitted under paragraph (2)(A), except that the President may, if necessary to protect the rights of a person named in the report or to prevent undue interference with any pending prosecution, postpone or refrain from publishing any or all of the report until the completion of such pending cases or pursuant to privacy protection requirements in law.
“(3)(A) A member of the Review Board removed from office may obtain judicial review of the removal in a civil action commenced in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
“(B) The member may be reinstated or granted other appropriate relief by order of the court.
“(h) Compensation of Members.—(1) A member of the Review Board shall be compensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, United States Code, for each day (including travel time) during which the member is engaged in the performance of the duties of the Review Board.
“(2) A member of the Review Board shall be allowed reasonable travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from the member’s home or regular place of business in the performance of services for the Review Board.
“(i) Duties of the Review Board.—(1) The Review Board shall consider and render decisions on a determination by a Government office to seek to postpone the disclosure of assassination records.
“(2) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Review Board shall consider and render decisions—“(A) whether a record constitutes an assassination record; and
“(B) whether an assassination record or particular information in a record qualifies for postponement of disclosure under this Act.
“(j) Powers.—(1) The Review Board shall have the authority to act in a manner prescribed under this Act including authority to—“(A) direct Government offices to complete identification aids and organize assassination records;
“(B) direct Government offices to transmit to the Archivist assassination records as required under this Act, including segregable portions of assassination records, and substitutes and summaries of assassination records that can be publicly disclosed to the fullest extent;
“(C)(i) obtain access to assassination records that have been identified and organized by a Government office;
“(ii) direct a Government office to make available to the Review Board, and if necessary investigate the facts surrounding, additional information, records, or testimony from individuals, which the Review Board has reason to believe is required to fulfill its functions and responsibilities under this Act; and
“(iii) request the Attorney General to subpoena private persons to compel testimony, records, and other information relevant to its responsibilities under this Act;
“(D) require any Government office to account in writing for the destruction of any records relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy;
“(E) receive information from the public regarding the identification and public disclosure of assassination records;
“(F) hold hearings, administer oaths, and subpoena witnesses and documents; and
“(G) use the Federal Acquisition Service in the same manner and under the same conditions as other departments and agencies of the United States; and
“(H) use the United States mails in the same manner and under the same conditions as other departments and agencies of the United States.
“(2) A subpoena issued under paragraph (1)(C)(iii) may be enforced by any appropriate Federal court acting pursuant to a lawful request of the Review Board.
“(k) Witness Immunity.—The Review Board shall be considered to be an agency of the United States for purposes of section 6001 of title 18, United States Code.
“(l) Oversight.—(1) The Committee on Government Operations [now Committee on Oversight and Accountability] of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Governmental Affairs [now Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs] of the Senate shall have continuing oversight jurisdiction with respect to the official conduct of the Review Board and the disposition of postponed records after termination of the Review Board, and shall have access to any records held or created by the Review Board.
“(2) The Review Board shall have the duty to cooperate with the exercise of such oversight jurisdiction.
“(m) Support Services.—The Administrator of the General Services Administration shall provide administrative services for the Review Board on a reimbursable basis.
“(n) Interpretive Regulations.—The Review Board may issue interpretive regulations.
“(o) Termination and Winding Up.—(1) The Review Board and the terms of its members shall terminate not later than September 30, 1998.
“(2) Upon its termination, the Review Board shall submit reports to the President and the Congress including a complete and accurate accounting of expenditures during its existence, and shall complete all other reporting requirements under this Act.
“(3) Upon termination and winding up, the Review Board shall transfer all of its records to the Archivist for inclusion in the Collection, and no record of the Review Board shall be destroyed.