PUBLIC LAW 105-277—OCT. 21, 1998 112 STAT. 2681-216 (6) United States officials granted permanent residence to a former Salvadoran military official involved in the coverup of the murders, enabling him to remain in Florida; and (7) despite the fact that the murders occurred over 17 years ago, the families of the four victims continue to seek the disclosure of information relevant to the murders. (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that— (1) information relevant to the murders should be made public to the fullest extent possible; (2) the Secretary of State and the Department of State are to be commended for fully releasing information regarding the murders to the victims' families and to the American public, in prompt response to congressional requests; (3) the President should order all other Federal agencies and departments that possess relevant information to make every effort to declassify and release to the victims' families relevant information as expeditiously as possible; (4) in making determinations concerning the declassification and release of relevant information, the Federal agencies and departments should presume in favor of releasing, rather than of withholding, such information; and (5) the President should direct the Attorney General to review the circumstances under which individuals involved in either the murders or the cover-up of the murders obtained residence in the United States, and the Attorney General should submit a report to the Congress on the results of such review not later than January 1, 1999. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING THE TRIAL IN THE NETHERLANDS OF THE SUSPECTS INDICTED IN THE BOMBING OF PAN AM FLIGHT 103 SEC. 596. (a) FINDINGS. —Congress makes the following findings: (1) On December 21, 1988, 270 people, including 189 United States citizens, were killed in a terrorist bombing on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. (2) Britain and the United States indicted 2 Libyan intelligence agents—Abdel Basset Al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah—in 1991 and sought their extradition from Libya to the United States or the United Kingdom to stand trial for this heinous terrorist act. (3) The United Nations Security Council called for the extradition of the suspects in Security Council Resolution 731 and imposed sanctions on Libya in Security Council Resolutions 748 and 883 because Libyan leader. Colonel Muammar Qadaffi, refused to transfer the suspects to either the United States or the United Kingdom to stand trial. (4) The sanctions in Security Council Resolutions 748 and 883 include a worldwide ban on Libya's national airline, a ban on flights into and out of Libya by other nations' airlines, a prohibition on supplying arms, airplane parts, and certain oil equipment to Libya, and a freeze on Libyan government funds in other countries. (5) Colonel Qaddafi has continually refused to extradite the suspects to either the United States or the United Kingdom and has insisted that he will only transfer the suspects to a third and neutral country to stand trial. (6) On August 24, 1998, the United States and the United Kingdom proposed that Colonel Qadaffi transfer the suspects
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