Reducing Information Control Designations Act

A happy St. Patrick's Day to you, Mr. Speaker.

I very much appreciate the comments of the gentleman from Missouri and certainly the comments of Mr. Issa from California as well as our chairman. This is an important issue, and I appreciate having the support of both the ranking member and the chairman of the committee as we move forward on the Government Reform and Oversight Committee in really looking at how documents are classified in the United States Government.

As was mentioned by the chairman, this is Sunshine Week. And Sunshine Week is about shining the bright light on government to help people better understand what decisions are being made on their behalf because the information is the people's information.

But when we look at the records and we look at the classification of documents in the Federal Government, we find confusion. Since 1979 there have been six separate GAO reports talking about the over- classification of documents; yet nothing has been done by Congress to address this growing problem. Today there are over 107 different classifications. Some of these are official classifications, some of these are pseudo-classifications of documents in every administrative body in the Federal Government.

This bill is about the systemic issue of over-classification and the existence of these pseudo-classifications within the government. The citizens of our Nation have an inherent right to the information that the government collects so long as it's not of a sensitive nature. The bill promotes transparency and government efficiency by promoting a common language within government. It was introduced by Congressman Waxman last year, who was chairing the committee, and passed this House without objection.

Specifically, the bill has several components. It instructs the Archivist to create regulations that control what is classified and how it would be classified with the input of agency stakeholders. It provides training for agency employees who classify information. It calls for random audits of these materials by Inspectors General to ensure compliance. It requires personal identifiers to be placed on classified information in order to track and uphold regulations. And it restricts information from being classified that is not of a sensitive nature.

Essentially, Mr. Speaker, what this bill does is it allows the agencies of our government to not only talk with each other, but it allows the people to have access to the information and the decisions being made by their government.

It is an important step in the right direction. I would only give you one example to prove the point.

In 2008, and I think this was enlightening, there were over 362,000 requests under the Freedom of Information Act to the Federal Government; 121,833 of those requests still remain to be processed, and that is because of overclassification of documents.

It's not about documents of a sensitive nature not being turned over to the public, it is about making information available to the public in an easier fashion. That's what this bill is about.

I appreciate the support of the chairman and the ranking member.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, often we bring a bill under suspension that's considered not to be overly important. This one is just the opposite. Transparency in government is an effort that has to be ongoing, and this is an important step. This solution has to be government-wide in order to be effective.

For too long, Mr. Speaker, the Federal departments have insisted on treating information that develops within their agency in a restricted fashion. We need to have government-wide solutions that make the maximum amount of information possible available to the public, and even if it is not available to the public, it must be classified at the most appropriate and lowest level in order to ensure its sensitive treatment.

For that reason I support, with the chairman, this piece of legislation that will reduce or eliminate the proliferation of terms such as ``sensitive but unclassified'' or ``for official use only,'' designations which essentially mean nothing but clearly cause trepidation in the release of documents. Many organizations under the Freedom of Information Act have had to deal with redaction of these comparatively and usually meaningless terms.

So I join with the gentleman from Ohio, the chairman of the full committee, and the chairman of the subcommittee, Mr. Clay, in asking that this important piece of legislation be moved under suspension because, although important, it is not controversial and its time has come.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes. I join with the gentleman in his comments and would only anecdotally tell you that this is the tip of the iceberg, and this committee is dedicated to drilling down deeply.

We want to know where our money has gone for TARP, we want to know where stimulus money is spent, both at the contractor and subcontractor level and beyond. We want to make sure that America's taxpayer dollars are well taken care of and transparent.

I will share with you something that perhaps you hadn't known, and that is that our government inflicts more wounds than you have yet seen, and you are going to see more in your time. Just last year I visited a location in Nevada, and since I was flying into Las Vegas people said, ``Oh, are you going to Area 51?'' I had been cautioned that I could not use that term, that that term was unacceptable. So I said, ``Well, I can't tell you. I am just going to Nevada.'' So then when I returned I

googled Area 51, and, of course, I saw detailed maps or detailed photos of everything, including the airfield that perhaps someone would land at, well into that Nevada test range which Google identifies as Area 51.

So I would say that if the gentleman and, of course, the Chair, would continue to work with us on all these matters, we will, on a bipartisan basis, drill down to try to prevent these prohibitions on that, which certainly flies in the face of common sense.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

I would like to thank the gentleman from Missouri for yielding me 3 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1323, the Reducing Information Control Designations Act, introduced by Representative Driehaus, is an important piece of legislation that will improve public access to unclassified information. I am pleased to be a cosponsor of this bill.

This week has been designated as Sunshine Week, and this bill will help bring more sunshine to the Federal Government. Our democracy requires that citizens be able to access information about how their government is working and how it is spending their tax dollars. This bill is the latest step that the Oversight Committee has taken to advance that goal.

In January we passed bills to open up presidential records and information on presidential libraries. The stimulus package requires that all spending information be posted online at recovery.gov, and we are holding a hearing on Thursday to examine how the transparency provisions of the stimulus bill are being implemented. And we are moving forward to obtain information from all Wall Street banks that receive bailout money, including AIG, on how they are spending that money, especially the bonuses. What these Wall Street firms need to understand is that if they are being supported by the taxpayers, which they are, sunshine applies to them also, and we will make that happen.

I would like to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Driehaus) for taking the lead on this bill and the Chair of the Information Policy Subcommittee, Mr. Clay, for all his work on bringing sunshine to the government. I also want to thank the ranking member, Mr. Issa, for working together with us on these sunshine bills.

President Obama has indicated repeatedly that we need more transparency in our government. In almost every speech, he has indicated that. I agree with that goal. And this bill is an important step towards it.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. And, of course, on that note I would like to just commend the gentleman from Missouri and, of course, the gentleman from California for their outstanding work.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1323) to require the Archivist of the United States to promulgate regulations regarding the use of information control designations, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, at this time I want to yield 3 minutes to the distinguished chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Towns).

I want to thank the ranking member, Mr. Issa, for his remarks.

Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize one of our newest members on the committee, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Driehaus) for 5 minutes. And, by the way, this is his inaugural bill on the floor, so I want to congratulate him too.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives, I am pleased to join my colleagues in the consideration of H.R. 1323, the Reducing Information Control Designations Act.

This bill is being considered with an amendment to address some concerns that have been raised with the provision in the bill requiring incentives for individuals who successfully challenge the information control designation. This amendment strikes the language requiring incentives but continues to require a process through which individuals can challenge the information control designation.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1323 promotes transparency and government efficiency by promoting a common language within government. Therefore, I urge swift passage of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.