H.R.2506

The Kenneth M. Ludden Foreign Operations, Export Financing,
and Related Programs Appropriations Act, Fiscal Year 2002.

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AMERICAN CHURCHWOMEN AND OTHER CITIZENS IN
EL SALVADOR AND GUATEMALA

SEC. 577. (a) To the fullest extent possible information relevant to the December 2, 1980, murders of four American churchwomen in El Salvador, and the May 5, 2001, murder of Sister Barbara Ann Ford and the murders of six other American citizens in Guatemala since December 1999, should be investigated and made public.

(b) The Department of State is urged to pursue all reasonable avenues in assuring the collection and public release of information pertaining to the murders of the six American citizens in Guatemala.

(c) The President shall order all Federal agencies and departments, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, that possess relevant information, to expeditiously declassify and release to the victims' families such information, consistent with existing standards and procedures on classification.

(d) In making determinations concerning declassification and release of relevant information, all Federal agencies and departments should use the discretion contained within such existing standards and procedures on classification in support of releasing, rather than withholding, such information.

(e) All reasonable efforts should be taken by the American Embassy in Guatemala to work with relevant agencies of the Guatemalan Government to protect the safety of American citizens in Guatemala, and to assist in the investigations of violations of human rights.