PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by Unanimous Consent.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Mar 1, 2017
Cold Case Record Collections Act of 2017
This bill requires the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to establish a collection of cold case records about unsolved criminal civil rights cases that government offices must: (1) publicly disclose in the collection without redaction or withholding, or (2) submit to a protected collection of records for which public disclosure may be postponed.
The Cold Case Records Review Board is established as an independent agency of impartial private citizens to: (1) facilitate the review, transmission to NARA, and public disclosure of government records related to such cases; (2) hold hearings and render decisions on determinations by government offices to seek to postpone the disclosure of such records; (3) direct government offices to make information available to the board; (4) subpoena private persons to compel testimony and records; and (5) receive information from the public.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Postponement is permitted based on clear and convincing evidence that public disclosure would: (1) impair national security or reveal intelligence sources or methods; (2) reveal the name of, and pose substantial harm to, a living person who provided confidential information; (3) constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy that outweighs the public interest; (4) compromise an understanding of confidentiality currently requiring protection between a government agent and a cooperating individual or group; or (5) reveal a security or protective procedure of the Secret Service or another executive agency responsible for protecting government officials.
NARA and the originating agency must review postponed or redacted records every 180 days. The reasons for any continuation of postponement must be published in the Federal Register.
Each cold case record shall be publicly disclosed and shall be available in NARA's collection not later than 25 years after enactment of this bill, unless: (1) continued postponement is made necessary by an identifiable harm to military defense, intelligence operations, or the conduct of foreign relations; and (2) the gravity of the identifiable harm outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
The President has sole and nondelegable authority to require disclosure or postponement of an executive branch cold case record under the grounds set forth in this bill after the board has made a formal determination concerning a record obtained or developed solely within the executive branch.
The board may request the Department of Justice to petition courts to release information related to cold cases under seal or held under the injunction of secrecy of a grand jury.
People & committees
Rep. Rush, Bobby L. [D-IL-1] · D–IL
Legislative record
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Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by Unanimous Consent.
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Aug 11, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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