The President's Commission reconvened at 2 p.m.
(Members present at this point: Chief Justice Warren and Representative
Ford.)
The CHAIRMAN. The Commission will come to order. You may proceed, Mr.
Rankin.
Mr. RANKIN. Mr. Chief Justice. Mr. McKenzie has asked that we develop
in the record a little bit about the qualifications of Mr. Coulter as
an interpreter, so it would be clear that he is able to translate back
and forth.
The CHAIRMAN. Very well.
Mr. RANKIN. Mr. Coulter, I think you should be sworn for this.
The CHAIRMAN. Would you rise and be sworn, please? Do you solemnly
swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so
help you God?
Mr. COULTER. I do.
Mr. RANKIN. Will you please state your full name?
Mr. COULTER. Harris Livermore Coulter.
Mr. RANKIN. Where do you live?
Mr. COULTER. Glen Echo Heights, Md.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you have a position in the Government at the present
time?
Mr. COULTER. Yes; I am an interpreter with the State Department.
Mr. RANKIN. How long have you been in that capacity?
Mr. COULTER. About 3 months.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you have any special field of foreign languages that you
are working in?
Mr. COULTER. Russian is my best foreign language. I also work in French
and in Yugoslavian.
Mr. RANKIN. What training have you had for interpreting or translating
Russian?
Mr. COULTER. Russian language and area studies was my major subject
at Yale University when I was an undergraduate. I also took 4 years
of graduate work at Columbia University in Soviet area studies. In
addition to that, I studied at the University of Moscow for 6 months.
And I have been studying Russian since 1950.
Mr. RANKIN. Can you tell us what period of time you studied at the
University of Moscow?
Mr. COULTER. I was there from December 19--excuse me--from September
1962 until January 1963.
Mr. RANKIN. Have you been acting as an official interpreter in
Government work?
Mr. COULTER. Yes; for the last 3 months I have been.
Mr. RANKIN. And will you describe the nature of that activity?
Mr. COULTER. I have been escorting delegations from Yugoslavia both
around the United States and in Washington. I have been working with
French delegations here in the State Department. I would have been
working with Russians if there had been any. There just haven't been
any yet.
In July I will be going to Geneva to be an interpreter at the
disarmament negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union.
I worked 3 years as simultaneous interpreter at the United Nations, in
Russian and French.
Mr. RANKIN. And have all these various activities since you have been
employed by the Government been as a part of your Government work?
Mr. COULTER. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you have facility in the reading of the Russian language?
Mr. COULTER. Yes; I read it fluently.
Mr. RANKIN. Have you had any difficulty understanding Mrs. Oswald?
Mr. COULTER. Not in the slightest; no.
Mr. RANKIN. I will ask you to ask her if she has had any difficulty
understanding you.
Mrs. OSWALD. In the Russian language?
Mr. RANKIN. Yes.
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
Mr. RANKIN. Mr. McKenzie, do you have anything else?
Mr. McKENZIE. I would like to ask a couple of questions. Mr. Coulter,
prior to your service with the State Department which commenced some 3
months ago, where were you employed?
Mr. COULTER. I was unemployed from June 1963 until March 1964. I was in
the process of being cleared for a Government job at the time.