国会记录：2004年7月21日（参议院）Page S8537-S8538]需要独立国家安全分类委员会佛罗里达州格雷厄姆先生。主席女士，我很高兴加入我的同事参议员威登，参议员洛茨和参议员雪地在介绍一份两党的法案这将开始解决我们政府对过度保密的危险倾向。我从信仰中开始，在我们的民主社会中，人民应该可以获得其政府代表其所持有的所有信息。唯一的例外应该是必要的个人和公司隐私问题，如纳税申报表，以及[[页S8538]]合法的国家安全威胁，例如保护来源和收集极其敏感信息的方法。我们分类系统的目前的滥用水平是如此令人嘲从。为了使事项更糟糕，当大会试图拒绝重要信息时，我们允许狐狸保护鸡舍 - 我们允许中央情报局和其他机构确定从批评的报告中发布到美国公众的内容ReportsReports执行。我个人最熟悉房屋和参议院情报委员会的报告，并在9/11周围的情报失败中询问。在2002年12月提交的报告后，需要7个月的时间来获得我们可以发布的解密版本。毕竟这几个月后，情报机构和白宫拒绝解放可能导致他们尴尬的信息和信息的页面 - 但肯定没有威胁我们的国家安全。最着名的审查实例是27页，详细介绍了19个劫机者中的两个人的支持，而他们居住在我们中间，并完成他们的邪恶情节。 For all we know, that pattern of support continues to this day. But our report found a number of instances where failures to share information were in and of themselves threats to national security. Had Federal agencies' watch lists of terrorist suspects been shared, especially with State and local law enforcement officials, police might have detained prior to 9/11 several of the hijackers when they were stopped for traffic offenses. We also have learned that the President's Daily Brief of August 6, 2001, listed a number of pending threats to our homeland, including hijackings of commercial aircraft. If only that information had been shared with the airlines through the FAA, the airlines could have heightened security on board aircraft and more thoroughly screened their passenger lists. Instead, no steps were taken. One of the Joint Inquiry's recommendations, No. 15, called on the President and the intelligence agencies to review executive orders, policies and procedures that govern national security classification of intelligence information: in an effort to expand access to relevant information for Federal agencies outside the Intelligence Community, for State and local authorities, which are critical to the fight against terrorism, and for the American public. The recommendation also called on Congress to review statutes, policies and procedures governing classification. As the recommendation states: Among other matters, Congress should consider the degree to which excessive classification has been used in the past and the extent to which the emerging threat environment has greatly increased the need for real-time sharing of sensitive information. The report called on the Director of Central Intelligence, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State to review and report to the House and Senate committees with ``proposals to protect against the use of the classification process as a shield to protect agency self- interest.'' Regrettably, none of the executive branch agencies have responded to the Joint Inquiry's directives on this issue. So I am pleased to join my colleagues in cosponsoring this legislation, which will create an Independent National Security Classification Board within the executive branch to force the administration and the intelligence agencies to respond and to implement new procedures and standards. Once a new classification system has been adopted, the independent board will have access to all documents that are classified on the basis of national security concerns and the authority to review classification decisions made by executive branch employees. If the board disagrees with a decision, it can make a recommendation to the President to reverse or alter the classification. If the President doesn't adopt the board's recommendation, he must within 60 days explain his decision to Congress: and post such notification and written justification on the White House website. This will, at the very least, let the American people know that they are being denied information. ____________________