Expand All Collapse All Extent 162 folders, approximately 6,247 pages Summary This collection consists of records concerning the Clinton Administration’s response to the Columbine High School shooting on April 20, 1999. Over the course of several hours two heavily-armed students killed 12 classmates and a teacher and wounded 23 others before taking their own lives. The records include agendas, articles, cables, emails, letters, memos, press releases, public statements, schedules, speeches, and transcripts. The subject matter includes the Administration’s first responses and follow up, both in policy and strategy; recommended phone calls to victims’ families and local government officials; and speech texts for President Clinton, Mrs. Clinton, Vice President Gore, Education Secretary Richard Riley, and Attorney General Janet Reno. Reaction to the massacre also resulted in a higher emphasis on dealing with the issues of school violence and weapons legislation to include several high-profile conferences on youth violence. Scope and Content Note The materials in FOIA 2012-0268-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about additional related materials. FOIA 2012-0268-F contains records concerning the Clinton Administration’s response to the Columbine High School shooting on April 20, 1999. Over the course of several hours two heavily-armed students killed 12 classmates and a teacher and wounded 23 others before taking their own lives. The records include agendas, articles, cables, emails, letters, memos, press releases, public statements, schedules, speeches, and transcripts. The subject matter includes initial reaction to the shooting and the Administration’s first responses, both in policy and strategy; dozens of recommended phone calls to victims’ families and local government officials; and speech texts by President Clinton, Mrs. Clinton, Vice President Gore, Education Secretary Richard Riley, and Attorney General Janet Reno. Reaction to the massacre also resulted in a higher emphasis on dealing with the issues of school violence and weapons legislation to include several high-profile conferences on youth violence. Follow-up material includes coordinating speeches and travel for the anniversary of the school shooting, as well as responses to letters from Columbine victims and those personally affected by the tragedy. Counsel’s Office files include discussion of a “Columbine Fund,” which was requested by victims’ attorneys almost a year after the fact. The NSC Records Management numbered documents consist of condolence letters from foreign government officials to President Clinton and the American people immediately following the massacre. Record Type Textual System of Arrangement Records that are responsive to this FOIA request were found in these collections areas— Clinton Presidential Records: White House Office of Records Management (WHORM) Alpha Project; Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM Subject Files, Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM (OP), Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files, Clinton Presidential Records: ARMS Emails, Clinton Presidential Records: TRP Emails, and Clinton Presidential Records: NSC Cables, Email, and Records Management Systems. The WHORM Subject file was compiled by the White House Office of Records Management and is a series of categories designated by a letter/number combination. In addition, there are files from the WHORM Alpha Project and the WHORM (OP) series responsive to this FOIA request. Staff and Office files were maintained at the folder level by staff members within their individual offices and document all levels of administration activity. WHORM files are processed at the document level; whereas, Staff and Office files are processed at the folder level, that is, individual documents are not selected and removed from a folder for processing. While this method maintains folder integrity, it frequently results in the incidental processing of documents that are not wholly responsive to the subject area. The Automated Records Management System (ARMS) is a database that contains email records of the Executive Office of the President. This system maintained unclassified Presidential email. The ARMS database is comprised of six sub-series of email records called "buckets." The buckets generally represent a specific White House office. The buckets are titled: NPR for National Performance Review, OPD for Office of Policy Development, POTUS for President of the United States, WHO for White House Office, CEA for Council of Economic Advisers, and Default for emails not associated with an office. The NPR bucket contains email created or received by an individual with a National Performance Review (NPR) White House user account. The OPD bucket contains email created or received by an individual with an Office of Policy Development (OPD) White House user account. The POTUS bucket was designated for email created and received by the President of the United States (POTUS). Please note that President Clinton never used his POTUS White House user account to send the few emails he wrote while in office. The WHO bucket contains email created or received by individual with an Executive Office of the President White House user account not identified as CEA, NPR, or OPD. The CEA bucket contains email created or received by an individual with a Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) White House user account. The Default bucket contains email created or received by unknown or un-recognized email accounts. Email found within the Default bucket often includes email created or received by offices or individuals outside the Executive Office of the President. ARMS email are arranged by topic, there-under by bucket, and there-under chronologically by creation date. The Tape Restoration Project (TRP) is a database consisting of restored emails from the Automated Records Management System (ARMS) from July 1994 through June of 2000. The TRP is a database that contains email records of the Executive Office of the President. This system maintained unclassified Presidential record email. The TRP database is comprised of the same six sub-series of email as in ARMS. TRP email are arranged by topic, there-under by bucket, and there-under chronologically by creation date. FOIA 2012-0268-F includes WHORM records from these subject codes: [CM009] [Commodities-Guns and Related Products] [ED] [Education] [FG001] [Federal Government-President of the United States] [FG001-08] [Federal Government-Presidential Telephone Calls] [GI002] [Gifts-To the President] [JL] [Judicial-Legal Matters] [JL003] [Judicial-Legal Matters-Criminal Matters] [MA040] [Military Service Awards-All] [MC] [Meetings-Conferences] [ME001] [Messages-Sent to Individuals] [ME001-03] [Messages-Condolence/Death] [ME001-04] [Messages-Illness/Get Well] [ME002] [Messages-Sent to Groups/Organizations] [PP005-01] [Presidential Personal-First Lady] [PR013-08] [Public Relations-Opinions, Statements, Questionnaires, Articles] [PU001-07] [Publications-Clippings to the President] [SA] [Safety-Accident Prevention] [SP] [Speeches] [SP1369] [Speeches-Columbine HS, Dakota Ridge HS, Littleton CO, 5/20/99] [ST006] [State Governments-Colorado] [TR351] [Trips-Littleton CO, 5/20/99] [WE] [Welfare]. Access Collection is open to all researchers. Access to Clinton Presidential Records is governed by the Presidential Records Act (PRA) (44 U.S.C. Chapter 22, as amended) and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 552, as amended) and therefore records may be restricted in whole or in part in accordance with legal exemptions. Copyright Documents in this collection that were prepared by officials of the United States government as part of their official duties are in the public domain. Researchers are advised to consult the copyright law of the United States (17 U.S.C. Chapter 1) which governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Provenance Official records of William Jefferson Clinton’s presidency are housed at the Clinton Presidential Library and administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) under the provisions of the Presidential Records Act (PRA). Processed by Staff Archivist, 2013. Previously restricted materials are added as they are released. Last Modified Date 2015-09-17 Container List The following is a list of documents and folders processed in response to FOIA 2012-0268-F: Please note that a single asterisk “*” indicates that the category is entirely processed and open. Box 1 Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM: Alpha Project Case Number Name 306704 [Williams, Columbine High School] 306894 [Littleton CO Schools] Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM: Subject Files Category Case Number CM009 312703 ED 304994 FG001 307186SS FG001-08 301880SS 301881SS 301882SS 301901SS 302260SS 302262SS 302263SS 302283SS 302848SS 302849SS 302850SS 302851SS 302852SS 302853SS 302856SS 302857SS 302858SS 302861SS 302862SS 302864SS 302865SS 302866SS 302869SS 302897SS 306101SS 314342SS 406341 GI002 310207 313867 JL 314027 JL003 301897SS 302795SS 313870 314152 314514 314517 410543 419839 Box 2 Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM: Subject Files Category Case Number MA040 416434 MC 303667 ME001 413128 422210 ME001-03 302702 305397 [1] 305397 [2] 305397 [3] 305397 [4] 314096 412821 412845 412855 432271 ME001-04 304308 ME002 419005 PP005-01 309989 317214 401270 PR013-08 302615SS PU001-07 305434SS 311678SS [SA] 303664 SP 303030 *SP1369 306072SS ST006 311691SS Box 3 Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM: Subject Files Category Case Number *TR351 305504SS 310275 311064 311856 314396 317867 400833 406728 WE 302401SS Clinton Presidential Records: WHORM: (OP) 310546 [Hanson, Eric] 317692 [Mrs Hall’s 4th Grade Book] 407082 [MacPhale re Tragedy at Columbine] 411659 [Curnow, Events at Columbine] Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files Cabinet Affairs Balderston, Kris Littleton, Colorado [1] [OA 23921] Littleton, Colorado [2] [OA 23921] Littleton, Colorado [3] [OA 23921] Littleton Trip [1] [OA 23921] Littleton Trip [2] [OA 23921] Marshall, Thurgood Columbine High School Shooting [1] [OA 19083] Columbine High School Shooting [2] [OA 19083] Box 4 Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files Communications Janenda, Thomas Littleton/Gun Culture File [OA 15634] Counsel’s Office Cabe, Meredith Columbine Fund [OA 21455] Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files (continued) Domestic Policy Council Benos, Deanne, Subject File Columbine-Guns [OA 103564] Chow, Barbara Crime-Columbine [OA 20226] Kullman, Karin Address to Columbine High School, Jefferson County CO, May 20, 1999 [OA 21984] Liu, Eric Crime-Columbine [OA 103884] Shimabukuro, Leanne Crime/Columbine Shooting Response [1] [OA 23169] Crime/Columbine Shooting Response [2] [OA 23169] Crime/Columbine Shooting Response [3] [OA 23169] Tanden, Neera Subject Files Hillary Rodham Clinton-Response to Littleton [OA 103077] Youth Development/Afterschool/Violence-Responses to Littleton-White House [OA 103087] First Lady’s Office First Lady’s Press Office Muscatine, Lissa FLOTUS Remarks and Speeches 5/99-10/12/99 [Binder]: [Columbine High School, Littleton, Colorado-5/10/1999] [OA 103210] First Lady’s Office Speechwriting Macy, Christine Littleton/School Violence Background [1] [OA 17209] Littleton/School Violence Background [2] [OA 17209] Intergovernmental Affairs Bennett, Matt Littleton CO [OA 18032] Ibarra, Mickey [Events-Apr 1999] [Folder 1]: Columbine High School Tragedy, Littleton CO, April 30, 1999 [1] [OA 18203] [Events-Apr 1999] [Folder 1]: Columbine High School Tragedy, Littleton CO, April 30, 1999 [2] [OA 18203] Box 5 Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files Intergovernmental Affairs Redington, Rachel Detroit MI NAACP Foundation Freedom Fund Dinner VPOTUS 4/25/99- Littleton CO Memorial Service Added [OA 17940] Zuni, Raynell Littleton CO [OA 17071] Legislative Affairs Johnson, Broderick Columbine [OA 17369] Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files (continued) President’s Initiative for One America Johnson, Ben and Craig, Crystal Columbine [OA 17993] Public Liaison Echaveste, Maria Littleton Shootings [OA 14164] Lynch, Victoria Littleton [1] [OA 14532] Littleton [2] [OA 14532] Littleton [3] [OA 14532] Speechwriting Gottheimer, Josh Littleton 4/20/99 [OA 19005] Shesol, Jeff Columbine High School Jeffco CO 5/20/99 – Columbine HS Drafts [OA 19945] Columbine High School Jeffco CO 5/20/99 – Columbine HS Facts and Clips 5/20/99 [1] [OA 19945] Columbine High School Jeffco CO 5/20/99 – Columbine HS Facts and Clips 5/20/99 [2] [OA 19945] Columbine High School Jeffco CO 5/20/99 – Columbine Nationwide Efforts [OA 19945] Columbine High School Jeffco CO 5/20/99 – Columbine POTUS Speeches [OA 19945] Shih, June Statement – Littleton 4/23/99 [OA 16421] Waldman, Michael Littleton [OA 14438] Weiss, Lowell Littleton 4/22/99 [1] [OA 17199] Littleton 4/22/99 [2] [OA 17199] Box 6 Clinton Presidential Records: Automated Records Management System [Email] OPD [OA/ID 250000] [Columbine] [4/20/1999 – 4/22/1999] [4/22/1999 – 4/27/1999] [4/27/1999 – 5/19/1999] [5/20/1999 – 7/13/1999] [7/14/1999 – 2/15/2000] Box 7 Clinton Presidential Records: Automated Records Management System [Email] OPD [OA/ID 250000] [Columbine] [2/16/2000 – 3/28/2000] [3/28/2000 – 4/18/2000] [4/18/2000 – 5/4/2000] [5/11/2000 – 1/4/2001] Clinton Presidential Records: Automated Records Management System [Email] (continued) WHO [OA/ID 500000] [Columbine] [4/20/1999 – 4/22/1999] [4/22/1999 – 4/26/1999] [4/26/1999 – 5/7/1999] Box 8 WHO [OA/ID 500000] [Columbine] [5/7/1999 – 5/18/1999] [5/18/1999 – 5/20/1999] [5/20/1999 – 5/21/1999] [5/21/1999 – 5/28/1999] [6/1/1999 – 6/24/1999] [6/25/1999 – 7/20/1999] Box 9 WHO [OA/ID 500000] [Columbine] [7/28/1999 – 9/28/1999] [10/5/1999 – 11/10/1999] [12/16/1999 – 2/16/2000] [2/17/2000 – 3/9/2000] [3/9/2000 – 5/5/2000] [5/8/2000 – 1/5/2001] CEA [OA/ID 950000] [Columbine] [4/30/1999 – 5/5/2000] NSC [OA/ID 1200000] [Columbine…] [04/20/1999 – 04/30/1999] Box 10 NSC [OA/ID 1200000] [Columbine…] [05/04/1999 – 05/19/1999] [05/20/1999 – 07/15/1999] [08/09/1999 – 04/21/2000] WHO [OA/ID 500000] [Columbine] [5/12/1999 – 6/26/1999] NSC [OA/ID 1200000] [Columbine] [05/18/1999] Clinton Presidential Records: NSC Cable, Email, and Records Management System NSC Cables Jan 1999 – Dec 2000 [Columbine…] [04/22/1999 – 04/23/1999] [OA/ID 530000] Clinton Presidential Records: NSC Cable, Email, and Records Management System (continued) NSC Emails Exchange – Record (Sept 97 – Jan 01) [Columbine…] [04/27/1999 – 12/18/1999] [OA/ID 620000] Exchange – Non-Record (Mar 97 – Jan 01) [Columbine…] [04/23/1999 – 10/14/2000] [OA/ID 630000] NSC Records Management [Columbine…] 9902997 [OA/ID 2724] 9903189 [OA/ID 2726] 9903507 [OA/ID 2728] 9905234 [OA/ID 2739]