Senator Jacob Javits Inquiry into USS Liberty CO Capt. William McGonagle MOH Award

Dear Mr. Meadors:

Thank you for submitting your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to
the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) via email to
foia@nara.gov. We received your request on July 24, 2023. Your request
concerns a copy of the letter Mr. Michael Cicus sent to Senator Javits as
well as the letter Senator Javits attached to Mr. Circus’ letter for
transmitting the request to the Department of Defense.

Our office handles FOIA and Privacy Act requests for NARA’s operational records
(records created by this agency). Because your FOIA request is for records
that may be archival records (records created by or originated in a
different agency but that may have been transferred to the legal custody of
NARA), we are forwarding it by this email to our Office of Research
Services, Textual Reference (RR2RR) staff who handle FOIA requests for
textual archival records.

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(email is preferred).

National Archives and Records Administration
Research Services, Textual Reference Branch (RR2RR)
8601 Adelphi Road, Room 2400
College Park, MD 20740

Phone: 301-837-3091
Fax: 301-837-1752
Email: archives2reference@nara.gov

For your reference, a copy of your request is below.

Please visit our website at www.archives.gov/foia for further information
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Office of General Counsel (NGC)
National Archives and Records Administration
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College Park, Maryland, 20740-6001
301-837-3642

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: <requests@muckrock.com>
Date: Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 9:47 PM
Subject: Freedom of Information Act Request: Senator Jacob Javits Inquiry
into USS Liberty CO Capt. William McGonagle MOH Award
To: NARA General Counsel FOIA Office <foia@nara.gov>

Nat'l Archives & Records Admin
FOIA Office
Room 3110
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740

July 24, 2023

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following
records:

In a letter dated November 14, 1969, RADM S.R. Brown, Jr., USN (ret),
responded to Senator Jacob Javits regarding the awarding of the Medal of
Honor to USS Liberty Commanding Officer Capt. William McGonagle. A copy of
that letter is attached.

We are requesting a copy of the letter Mr. Michael Cicus sent to Senator
Javits as well as the letter Senator Javits attached to Mr. Circus’ letter
for transmitting the request to the Department of Defense.

Joe Meadors
USS Liberty Survivor
Director of Operations, USS Liberty Veterans Association

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and
this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform
me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer
the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or
CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I
look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business
days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Joe Meadors

View request history, see one related attachment, upload responsive
documents, and report problems here:
https://www.muckrock.com/

If prompted for a passcode, please enter:
••••••••

Attachments:
• DoD_LTR_to_Sen_Jacob_Javits_re_McGonagle_MOH.pdf

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com

PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW ADDRESS
For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 149852
263 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is
being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share,
and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed
(i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the
department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.

Joe Meadows

MuckRock News

DEPT MR 149852

263 Huntington Ave

Boston, MA 02115

Dear Mr. Meadows,

This is in response to your Freedom of Information Act request dated July
24, 2023, where you have requested several records relating to the
corresponding letters to and from Senator Jacob Javits regarding the Medal
of Honor for Capt. William McGonagle, CO of the USS *Liberty* (AGTR 5).
Your request was received by the Reference Branch (RR2RR) on August 3, 2023
with the assigned tracking number 23-56929.

We have searched our holdings in Record Group 38: Records of the Chief of
Naval Operations and Record Group 330: Records of the Department of
Defense, and we were not able to locate the records you have requested.

Because the letters center around Senator Jacob Javits, we are going to
forward your request to the Center for Legislative Archives to review
records of the US Congress including the Senate. The Center will send you a
separate response to your request. It is also possible that letters may be
in a private or donated collection of the Senator’s Papers that are kept
with another repository.

We do not consider this a denial of your FOIA request. However, if you are
not satisfied with our action on this request, your options for appeal and
dispute resolution are outlined in the attached enclosure. If you have any
questions, you may reach us at archives2reference@nara.gov. This completes
the processing of your request.

Sincerely,

NATHANIEL PATCH

Archivist, Archives II Reference Section (RR2RR)

National Archives at College Park, MD

*FOIA Appeal and Dispute Resolution Options*

You have the right to file an administrative appeal in writing via regular
U.S. mail or email. Your appeal should be received within ninety (90)
calendar days from the date of this letter and it should explain why you
believe this response does not meet the requirements of the Freedom of
Information Act. Please address it to the Deputy Archivist of the United
States (ND), National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi
Road, College Park, Maryland 20740. Both the letter and the envelope
should be clearly marked “Freedom of Information Act Appeal.” You may also
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All correspondence should reference your internal case tracking
number 23-56929.

In addition to your right to file an administrative appeal with the Deputy
Archivist, you may seek assistance from our FOIA Public Liaison, Rebecca
Calcagno. Contact information for the FOIA Public Liaison at the National
Archives, Washington DC area is as follows:

Accessioned Executive Branch Agency Records - Washington, DC Area
FOIA Public Liaison: Rebecca Calcagno
8601 Adelphi Road, Room 5500
College Park, MD 20740-6001
Email: DC.foia.liaison@nara.gov
Telephone: 301-837-3190

You may also contact the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS),
the Federal FOIA Ombudsman’s office, for assistance. OGIS offers mediation
services to help resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal
agencies. The contact information for OGIS is:
Office of Government Information Services
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road–OGIS
College Park, MD 20740-6001
Email: ogis@nara.gov
https://www.archives.gov/ogis
<https://www.archives.gov/ogis>
Phone: 202-741-5770 or 1-877-684-6448

NATHANIEL PATCH
Archivist, Archives II Reference Branch (RR2RR)
National Archives at College Park, MD
"Pax per scientiam"

Original Request:

Nat'l Archives & Records Admin
FOIA Office
Room 3110
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740

July 24, 2023

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following
records:

In a letter dated November 14, 1969, RADM S.R. Brown, Jr., USN (ret),
responded to Senator Jacob Javits regarding the awarding of the Medal of
Honor to USS Liberty Commanding Officer Capt. William McGonagle. A copy of
that letter is attached.

We are requesting a copy of the letter Mr. Michael Cicus sent to Senator
Javits as well as the letter Senator Javits attached to Mr. Circus’ letter
for transmitting the request to the Department of Defense.

Joe Meadors
USS Liberty Survivor
Director of Operations, USS Liberty Veterans Association

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and
this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform
me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer
the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or
CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I
look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business
days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Joe Meadors

View request history, see one related attachment, upload responsive
documents, and report problems here:
https://www.muckrock.com/

If prompted for a passcode, please enter:
••••••••

Attachments:
• DoD_LTR_to_Sen_Jacob_Javits_re_McGonagle_MOH.pdf

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com

PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW ADDRESS
For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 149852
263 Huntington Ave
Boston, MA 02115

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is
being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share,
and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed
(i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the
department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.

Dear Mr. Meadors,

Thank you for emailing the National Archives. Your FOIA request was
referred to this office, the Center for Legislative Archives, for
response, as we hold the official records of the U.S. Senate.

It is unlikely that the Center holds the correspondence you seek. Our
holdings consist of the official records of committees and administrative
offices of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. We do not hold
members' papers. Unless a member was the chair of a committee, it is
unlikely that we will hold correspondence or other records from that person
in the committee records. The Congressional Directory for the 91st
Congress, 1st session
<https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015038060474&view=1up&seq=1> (1969)
shows that Senator Javits served on the Foreign Relations Committee,
Government Operations Committee, Labor and Public Welfare Committee, Joint
Economic Committee, Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, and
Select Committee on Small Business. His correspondence regarding Michael
Circus' s request most likely was treated as a constituent service although
it is possible Circus wrote to the Senator in his role as a member of the
Foreign Relations or Government Operations Committee. Note that Javits was
not chair of either committee.

The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
<https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/P000498> shows that Javits left
his papers to the Frank Melville, Jr. Memorial Library at the State
University of New York (Stoney Brook). Stoney Brook has a detailed finding
aid
<https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/libspecial/collections/manuscripts/javits/seriesdescriptions.php>
to the collection on its website. You should contact them about the
correspondence you seek. Generally members' papers collections are the
place to look for constituent correspondence.

Further information on Personal Papers of Members of Congress
<https://historyhub.history.gov/community/legislative-records/blog/2020/04/29/personal-papers-of-members-of-congress> is
found in a blog post on the legislative records section of History Hub
<https://historyhub.history.gov/welcome>.

The National Archives Catalog shows the records we hold for the Committee
on Foreign Relations
<https://catalog.archives.gov/search?beginCongress=91&endCongress=91&levelOfDescription=fileUnit&q=foreign%20relations&recordGroupNumber=46> and
the Committee on Government Operations
<https://catalog.archives.gov/search?beginCongress=91&endCongress=91&levelOfDescription=fileUnit&q=government%20operations&recordGroupNumber=46>
for the 91st Congress. As you can see from the descriptions, most of
the files do not lend themselves to finding records to or from a specific
committee member. However, you or your representative is welcome to make
an appointment using Eventbrite
<https://www.eventbrite.com/o/national-archives-in-washington-dc-research-48144467593> to
review these records in the Research Room of the National Archives Building
in Washington, DC.

Just for your information, the records of Congress are not subject to the
provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The FOIA applies only
to executive branch records. Access to unpublished records of Senate
committees is governed by Senate Resolution 474, 96th Congress
<https://www.archives.gov/legislative/research/rules-of-access.html>. This
rule closes unpublished records for 20 years with some categories of
records closed for 50 years.

I hope this is helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Warm Regards,
Kate Mollan
Center for Legislative Archives
National Archives and Records Administration
700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20408