Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

第二章 With the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels of the

Chapter II, prepared with the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels, covers Oswald’s return to the United States and repayment of his State Department loan, the issuance of a passport to Oswald in June 1963, his visit to the Russian Embassy in Mexico City, and a conclusion evaluating the government’s handling of these matters. The chapter also includes Appendix XVI, a biography of Jack Ruby, beginning with Ruby’s family background.

OSWALD’S RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES AND REPAYMENT OF HIS LOAN

On June 1, 1962, the same day Oswald received his State Department loan, he and his family departed Moscow by train for Rotterdam and boarded the SS Maasdam on June 4, arriving in Hoboken, New Jersey, on June 13, 1962. The American Embassy in Moscow notified the State Department of their departure on May 31, and the Department in turn informed the FBI consistent with its prior practice. Upon arrival, INS Officer Frederick J. Wiedersheim interviewed the Oswalds, asking questions about Oswald’s alleged expatriation and Marina’s possible Communist affiliations; their satisfactory answers allowed them admission. After reentry, Oswald voluntarily repaid his loan according to a schedule of small payments from August 1962 through January 29, 1963, totaling $435.71, after first reimbursing his brother Robert for the approximately $200 used for travel from New York to Fort Worth.

ISSUANCE OF A PASSPORT IN JUNE 1963

On June 24, 1963, Oswald applied for a U.S. passport at the New Orleans Passport Office, listing planned visits to England, France, Holland, the U.S.S.R., Finland, Italy, and Poland, and stating an intended ship departure from New Orleans in November or December. A teletype listing 25 applicants, including Oswald, was sent to Washington, with the routine red-penciled notation “NO” (indicating New Orleans) appearing beside his name. Because there was no lookout card on Oswald, his passport was processed routinely and issued on June 25, 1963, within the usual 24-hour timeframe, with no prior review of his existing file. The Commission finds no information in State Department files that would have justified denial under Section 6 of the Subversive Activities Control Act (applicable only to members of organizations required to register) or under Section 215 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which permits denial only when the applicant’s intended foreign activity would violate U.S. law, harm foreign relations, or prejudice U.S. interests. While Oswald’s prior defection had caused adverse publicity and could theoretically have supported denial under the discretionary regulation, the Supreme Court’s decisions in Kent v. Dulles and Dayton v. Dulles narrowed the Secretary’s authority largely to questions of citizenship and illegal conduct, and State Department practice in 1963 generally granted passports even to those expected to criticize the United States abroad. The Commission therefore concludes that the State Department was justified in granting Oswald a passport.