国会记录：2002年4月12日，（扩展）
第E511-E512

2002年______ HON引进总统档案法修正案。加利福尼亚州的斯蒂芬HORN在代表周四，2002年4月11日Horn先生的房子。议长先生，我今天介绍的总统记录法修正法案该法案在2002年制定及时的将修复一个严重的，但在我看来很容易解决的，问题已在总统记录法案的1978年1实施开发感到高兴的是从过道两旁的一些同事也加入了我作为该法案的共同提案国。1978年总统记录法案是具有里程碑意义的法律。它宣布了首次有前总统的正式记录属于美国人民。它给了前总统的记录保管到美国的管理档案，并在档案管理员实行“有积极的义务，使这些记录向公众提供尽可能迅速和全面地与本法的规定相一致。”该法建立在安全保障上的总统记录的披露。它允许前总统，他们离开办公室后，以限制某些机密记录披露长达12年。该法案的作者认为这12年的禁运足以防止对总统的能力得到坦诚和保密的建议“寒蝉效应”。 In this regard, they were mindful of the Supreme Court's observation in Nixon v. Administrator of General Services, 433 U.S. 425 (1977), that the expectation of confidentiality in presidential communications "has always been limited and subject to erosion over time after an administration leaves office." The Act also permanently shielded from public release records containing military and diplomatic secrets or other categories of information whose disclosure would not be in the national interest. The Act first applied to the records of former President Ronald Reagan. Therefore, records that former President Reagan restricted for 12 years should have become publicly available in February 2001. Unfortunately, it took one full year after the release date envisioned by the Act for just a relatively small portion of those records to be made public. One reason for this is that the records have undergone lengthy reviews to determine whether the former or incumbent President should attempt to prevent their release by claiming "executive privilege." For much of last year, release of the Reagan records was delayed while the current Administration repeatedly extended the deadline for making executive privilege decisions under an Executive Order that President Reagan had issued before he left office. On November 1, 2001, President Bush issued a new, and much more restrictive, Executive Order to govern the review of a former President's records for possible executive privilege claims. The new Executive Order No. 13233 starts with a "background" section that asserts an extremely expansive view of the scope of executive privilege. It requires the Archivist to notify both the former and incumbent Presidents of requests for access to presidential records. It then prohibits the Archivist from releasing the records "unless and until" both the former President and incumbent President agree to authorize access, or unless the Archivist is directed to release the records by a final and non-appealable court order. The Executive Order makes any claim of executive privilege by either the former or incumbent President binding on the Archivist. Indeed, the Archivist must comply with a privilege claim by a former President even if the incumbent President does not believe the claim is well founded. The Order sets a target date of 90 days for the review of records. However, under the terms of the Order, the review periods available to the former and incumbent Presidents are essentially open-ended. A former or incumbent President can indefinitely postpone public disclosure of records simply by withholding approval for their release, without ever needing to claim executive privilege. Last November, the Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Financial Management and Intergovernmental Relations, which I chair, held a听取执行总统记录法案。在听证会上，律师，历史学家和其他专家的批评法律和政策依据行政命令。从过道两旁国会议员表达了类似的批评。继听证会的档案，历史学家和其他主机和我联系，表达了他们对行政命令的担忧。最后，一些团体已经提起诉讼，推翻行政命令。我同意行政命令违反了总统记录法的文字和精神。不过，我不认为我们或许应该等待数年的官司自生自灭。我们需要为了得到落实正轨法回的现在就采取行动。我相信我们能够在保护前和现任总统的宪法特权，同时保留该法案的意图公开披露总统记录为及时和完整地一种方式解决问题。这就是我的法案旨在做。 Like the Executive Order, my bill establishes a process for the consideration of executive privilege claims. Like the Executive Order, it requires advance notice to the former and incumbent Presidents before presidential records are released. This permits them to review the records in order to decide whether to claim privilege. Also like the Executive Order, my bill requires the Archivist to withhold records (or parts of records) for which the incumbent President claims privilege. In this event, a requester would have the burden of challenging a privilege claim in court. However, my bill differs from the Executive Order in several ways. The bill does not attempt to define the scope of executive privilege. It leaves this to the courts. The bill limits the amount of time the former and incumbent President can take to review records and claim privilege. The basic review period is 20 working days, which is the same limit imposed on agencies under the Freedom of Information Act. This period may be extended for not more than another 20 working days if the Archivist determines that an extension is necessary to permit adequate review. If there is no claim of privilege within the applicable review period, the Archivist must release the records. The other key difference between my bill and the Executive Order concerns what happens if a former President claims privilege. As noted previously, the Executive Order forces the Archivist to withhold records any time a former President claims privilege. The requester then has the burden of going to court to challenge the privilege claim. This is the feature of the Executive Order most clearly at odds with the Presidential Records Act. The bill reverses this burden. If a former President claims privilege, the Archivist will withhold the records for an additional 20 days in order to give the former President time to file suit to enforce his privilege claim. However, the Archivist will then release the records absent a court order to the contrary. I believe this is a reasonable approach, and one that is consistent with the intent of the Presidential Records Act. The Act already provides for lawsuits by a former President to vindicate his rights and privileges. Furthermore, the Act already protects from disclosure those categories of information that would ordinarily be subject to executive privilege claims. Thus, any privilege claim a former President might assert probably would be based on novel and untested legal grounds that should be initially considered by a court. The bill also includes several provisions that are not in the Executive Order. Most of these provisions are intended to ensure more transparency and public accountability with respect to possible executive privilege claims. For example, a claim of privilege would be in a written public document signed by the incumbent or former President, as the case may be. This is consistent with the settled principle that the right to claim executive privilege is personal to the incumbent or former President and cannot [[Page E512]] be delegated to their assistants, relatives, or descendants. Mr. Speaker, I request that a summary of the Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2002 be placed in the Congressional Record. THE PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS ACT AMENDMENTS OF 2002 SUMMARY The Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2002 establishes statutory procedures to govern the assertion of executive privilege claims by a former or incumbent President over records covered by the Presidential Records Act. It preserves the constitutional right of a former or incumbent President to assert privilege claims, but does so in a way that complies with the framework and intent of the Presidential Records Act. It supersedes the procedures established in Executive Order 13233. The bill requires the Archivist to provide advance notice of 20 working days to the former and incumbent Presidents before releasing presidential records in accordance with the provisions of the Act. The Archivist would release the records upon the expiration of this 20-day period, except any records (or parts of records) for which the former or incumbent President asserts a claim of privilege. The Archivist could extend the 20-day period for an additional 20 days if the former or incumbent President demonstrated a need for additional time to review the records. Additional time should rarely be needed. The former and incumbent Presidents have access to the records and could conduct their reviews well before the time the records are ready for public release. The Archivist also would have thoroughly categorized and screened the records before a notice is issued, which should greatly facilitate reviews by the former and incumbent Presidents. The bill requires that any claim of privilege be in writing and signed by the former or incumbent President, specify the records to which it applies, and state the nature and grounds of the privilege claim. Notices of the proposed release of records, as well as any privilege claims, would be made public. If the former President submitted a privilege claim, the Archivist would withhold the records covered by that claim for another 20 working days. This would permit the former President to seek judicial enforcement of his privilege claim, as already provided for in the Presidential Records Act. After expiration of this 20-day period, the Archivist would release the records unless a court ordered their continued withholding. This approach places the burden of establishing a privilege claim on the former President. Privilege claims should be extremely rare, given the protections already built into the Act and the age of the records. If the incumbent President submitted a privilege claim, the Archivist would withhold the records unless and until the incumbent President withdrew the claim or there was a final, non-appealable court order directing the Archivist to release the records. This approach recognizes the legal and practical reality that the Archivist must honor a privilege claim by an incumbent President. The bill would apply similar procedures to requests for access to records by Congress and the courts. The time periods, however, would be modified to ensure compliance with deadlines imposed by subpoenas or other legal process. Also, the bill does not specify an outcome if the incumbent President claimed privilege in response to a congressional or judicial access request. Disputes between the incumbent president and either the Congress or the courts would be left for resolution on a case-by-case-basis. The bill makes several conforming changes to existing provisions of the Presidential Records Act. It recognizes that authority to claim executive privilege is personal to a former or incumbent President and cannot be delegated to their representatives. This is consistent with current legal theory and practice concerning executive privilege. It also recognizes that a former or incumbent Vice President cannot claim presidential privileges. Finally, the bill provides that Executive Order 13233 shall have no force or effect. ____________________