24 August 1998
Source: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aaces002.html

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[Federal Register: August 24, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 163)]
[Notices]
[Page 45095]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr24au98-93]

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NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION


Lab Test On Kennedy Assassination Evidence

AGENCY: National Archives and Records Administration.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) will
work with the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board
(Review Board) to arrange the analysis in an FBI laboratory of a piece
of evidence from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
    The evidence item is Warren Commission Exhibit (CE) #567, which is
the nose portion of a bullet from the limousine seat in which the
President was riding and which consists of five fragments--one larger
copper and lead fragment and four smaller pieces of possibly organic
material. The larger fragment still has ``fibrous/plant debris''
adhering to it. The testing will be done on the fibrous debris, not the
fragment itself, and on the four small pieces of possibly organic
material. The purpose of the test will be to determine specifically the
composition of the fibrous material and the small fragments.
    The testing of the fiber was recommended by the Firearms
Examination Panel of the House Select Committee on Assassinations
(HSCA) in 1979. This recommendation was not in the published Final
Report of the Committee and thus the testing was never done. NARA
agrees with the Review Board that conducting limited testing to
complete this ``unfinished business'' is in the public interest.
    The fibrous material may be from clothing the president was
wearing, or the fiber may be from material in which the bullet was
wrapped after the assassination, or the tests may be inconclusive. NARA
chose the FBI laboratories for the analysis as the best equipped and
most expertly staffed for the purpose. To assure objectivity, the
Review Board will select one or more independent observers to verify
the appropriateness of the procedure and to be present throughout the
testing, each phase of which will be thoroughly documented. The report
on the results of the testing will be made public.

    Dated: August 17, 1998.
John W. Carlin,
Archivist of the United States.
[FR Doc. 98-22674 Filed 8-21-98; 8:45 am]
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