国会记录:2003年7月31日(参议院)Page S10621-S10687 STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT resolution[…]宾加曼先生(为他本人和佛罗里达的格雷厄姆先生):1517号。一项关于撤销和行政命令的法案，该法案涉及考虑基于宪法的禁止披露总统记录的特权的要求;政府事务委员会宾加曼先生。总统先生，今天我和来自佛罗里达州的同事格雷厄姆参议员一起提出一项非常简单的法案，它将使布什总统的法案无效行政命令13233让里根总统的军队重新掌权行政命令12667——恢复美国人民查阅总统文件的权利。该法案是由众议员道格·奥斯(Doug Ose)发起的第1493号决议的附件，在众议院获得了两党的支持。25年前，这个机构通过了《总统档案法》，宣布总统的文件是美利坚合众国人民的财产，由国家档案和档案管理局(NARA)管理。该法案规定，总统的文件将在总统离任12年后提供，允许前总统或现任总统有权要求对特别敏感的文件享有行政特权。为了完成这一使命，里根总统于1989年签署了第12667号行政命令，给前任或现任总统30天的时间来要求行政特权。然而，2001年，布什总统签署了第13233号行政命令，废除了里根总统的命令，并对获取总统文件实施了新的规定。布什总统的新命令严格限制了人们查阅总统文件的权限，要求所有的文件请求，无论多么无害，都必须得到前总统和现任白宫的批准。这样一来，该命令就违背了《总统记录法》的文字和精神，因为它要求NARA做出不披露的推定，从而允许白宫仅仅通过不采取行动来防止记录的泄露。总统的命令还将行政特权的范围扩大到新的领域，即总统和他的顾问之间的沟通以及给予总统的法律建议，从而限制了可获得的文件类型。此外，前总统现在可以指定第三方代表他们行使行政特权，这意味着总统文件可以在总统去世多年后仍被隐藏。 These expansions raise some serious constitutional questions and cause unnecessary controversy that could end up congesting our already overburdened courts. My legislation simply seeks to restore a legitimate, streamlined means of carrying out this body's wishes--making Presidential records available for examination by the public and by Congress. The administration shouldn't fear passage of this bill. Any documents that contain sensitive national security information would remain inaccessible, as would any documents pertaining to law enforcement or the deliberative process of the executive branch. Executive privilege for both former and current Presidents would still apply to any papers the White House designates. With these safeguards in place, there is no reason to further hinder access to documents that are in some cases more than twenty years old. By not passing this bill, the Congress would greatly limit its own ability to investigate previous administrations, not to mention limit the ability of historians and other interested parties to research the past. Knowledge of the past enriches and informs our understanding of the present, and by limiting our access to these documents we do both ourselves and future generations a great disservice. Numerous historians, journalists, archivists and other scholars have voiced their disapproval of Executive Order 13233 because they understand how important access to Presidential papers can be to accurately describing and learning from past events. We here in the Congress cannot afford to surrender our ability to investigate previous Presidential administrations because doing so would remove a vitally important means of ensuring Presidential accountability. I believe it is time for these documents to become part of the public record. I believe in open, honest, and accountable government, and I do not believe in keeping secrets from the American people. The Presidential Records Act was one of this country's most vital post- Watergate reforms and it remains vitally important today. In these times when trust in government is slipping more and more every day, we need to send a statement to the American people that we here in Washington don't need to hide from public scrutiny--that instead we welcome and encourage public scrutiny. This bill will send just such a message. I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: S. 1517 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. REVOCATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDER OF NOVEMBER 1, 2001. Executive Order number 13233, dated November 1, 2001 (66 Fed. Reg. 56025), shall have no force or effect, and Executive Order number 12667, dated January 18, 1989 (54 Fed. Reg. 3403), shall apply by its terms. ______