[Congressional Record: October 20, 2009 (Extensions)] [Page E2577] THE DISCLOSURE OF PRESIDENTIAL DECLASSIFICATION OF INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION ACT OF 2009 ______ HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR. of michigan in the house of representatives Tuesday, October 20, 2009 Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the ``Disclosure of Presidential Declassification of Intelligence Information Act of 2009.'' This bill will help increase transparency by requiring the White House to release public notices when classified materials are declassified. Specifically, this legislation would require the President to inform the relevant congressional committees within 15 days whenever intelligence has been declassified. The bill also contains a sense of Congress that additional notice should be given to the Director of National Intelligence, the Archivist of the United States, and the heads of the applicable elements of the intelligence community. In January of this year, I released a report documenting several abuses and excesses of the Bush Administration. The Report, titled ``Reining in the Imperial Presidency: Lessons and Recommendations Relating to the Presidency of George W. Bush,'' contained 50 separate recommendations designed to restore and support the traditional checks and balances of our constitutional system. This bill carries out the recommendation that Congress consider legislation requiring the President to announce the declassification of classified materials. As the report details, the Bush administration selectively leaked numerous items of classified information to strengthen the case for war in Iraq. For example, evidence suggests that President Bush secretly authorized the declassification of information without notice in an effort to neutralize Ambassador Joe Wilson's op-ed that raised questions about the case for war. This bill will help to prevent similar future abuses and political manipulation of intelligence authority by alerting Congress when information is declassified. Such transparency in presidential delegations of declassified authority is a matter of good government regardless of who occupies the White House. ____________________
HR 3849 IH
111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 3849
To amend the National Security Act of 1947 to require notice to Congress of certain declassifications of intelligence information, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 20, 2009 Mr. CONYERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence (Permanent Select)
A BILL
To amend the National Security Act of 1947 to require notice to Congress of certain declassifications of intelligence information, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Disclosure of Presidential Declassification of Intelligence Information Act of 2009'.
SEC. 2. NOTICE TO CONGRESS OF CERTAIN DECLASSIFICATIONS OF INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION.
(a) Notice Required-
(1) IN GENERAL- Title V of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 413 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
`NOTICE TO CONGRESS OF CERTAIN DECLASSIFICATIONS OF INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION
`Sec. 508. (a) Declassification of Intelligence Information-
`(1) NOTICE REQUIRED- Not later than 15 days after the date of the declassification of intelligence information by the President, or Vice President if authorized by a delegation of authority from the President, the President shall submit to the congressional intelligence committees notice of the declassification of such intelligence information.
`(2) EXCEPTION- Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the declassification of intelligence information as part of a mandatory or systematic declassification of information as described in section 3 of Executive Order 12958 or any successor Executive order.
`(b) Officials Authorized To Declassify Intelligence Information-
`(1) Initial List- The President shall submit to the congressional intelligence committees a list of the personnel of the Executive Office of the President who are authorized to declassify information other than information originally classified by such personnel.
`(2) Updates- Not later than 15 days after a person is granted authorization to declassify information other than information originally classified by such person, or the authority to declassify such information is revoked from such person, the President shall submit to the congressional intelligence committees an update of the list referred to in paragraph (1) and notice of the addition or removal of a person from such list.'.
(2) INITIAL LIST SUBMISSION- The President shall submit the list required to be submitted under section 508(b)(1) of the National Security Act of 1947, as added by paragraph (1) of this subsection, not later than 15 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT- The table of contents in the first section of such Act (50 U.S.C. 401 note) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 507 the following new item:
`Sec. 508. Notice to Congress of certain declassifications of intelligence information.'.
(b) Sense of Congress on Additional Notice- It is the sense of Congress that, in furtherance of the protection of intelligence sources and methods and to ensure appropriate handling and dissemination of intelligence, any notice submitted to the congressional intelligence committees under section 508(a) of the National Security Act of 1947, as added by subsection (a)(1) of this section, should also be submitted to--
(1) the Director of National Intelligence;
(2) the Archivist of the United States; and
(3) the heads of the applicable elements of the intelligence community.
END