I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1248 

To amend the National Security Act of 1947 to prohibit individuals who 

threaten to destroy the Government from participating in or attending 

meetings of the National Security Council, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2017 

Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself, Ms. LEE, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, and Mr. 

RASKIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign 

Affairs, Intelligence (Permanent Select), and Oversight and Government 

Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the National Security Act of 1947 to prohibit 

individuals who threaten to destroy the Government from 

participating in or attending meetings of the National 

Security Council, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Make Our Government 

5 Safe Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) Steve Bannon was appointed to serve as 

4 chief strategist and senior counselor to the President 

5 in January 2017 and was appointed, via executive 

6 order, to the National Security Council on January 

7 28, 2017. 

8 (2) Under section 101 of the National Security 

9 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3021), the National Security 

10 Council is responsible for the integration of domes11 tic, foreign, and military policies relating to the na12 tional security so as to enable the military services 

13 and the other departments and agencies of the Gov14 ernment to cooperate more effectively in matters in15 volving the national security. 

16 (3) To participate in highly sensitive meetings 

17 of the National Security Council, it is a prerequisite 

18 to have the highest available security clearances, in19 cluding access to compartmented information. 

20 (4) Question 23.9 on United States Government 

21 Standard Form 86, which all applicants seeking a 

22 security clearance must submit, asks: ‘‘have you ever 

23 advocated any acts of terrorism or activities de24 signed to overthrow the U.S. Government by force?’’ 

25 (5) Question 29.4 asks: ‘‘have you ever been a 

26 member of an organization dedicated to the use of 


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1 violence or force to overthrow the United States 

2 Government . . .’’ 

3 (6) Question 29.6 asks: ‘‘have you ever know4 ingly engaged in activities designed to overthrow the 

5 United States Government by force?’’ 

6 (7) Steve Bannon has made numerous inflam7 matory statements in support of overthrowing the 

8 United States Government. 

9 (8) In an interview dated August 22, 2016, 

10 Bannon referred to himself as a ‘‘Leninist’’, saying 

11 ‘‘Lenin . . . wanted to destroy the state, and that’s 

12 my goal too. I want to bring everything crashing 

13 down, and destroy all of today’s establishment’’. 

14 (9) The Director of the National Background 

15 Investigations Bureau, Charles Phalen, Jr., testified 

16 before the Committee on Oversight and Government 

17 Reform of the House of Representatives on Feb18 ruary 2, 2017, about the process to investigate ap19 plicants for security clearances. 

20 (10) In response to questions from Ranking 

21 Member Elijah E. Cummings, Director Phalen 

22 agreed that calling oneself a Leninist would cause 

23 concerns during the background check process for a 

24 security clearance, saying ‘‘It would, and the investiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Mar 02, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1248.IH H1248

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1 gator should pursue that avenue of discussion with 

2 the subject as to what that means.’’. 

3 (11) In response to a specific question about 

4 someone whose goal was to ‘‘destroy the state,’’ Di5 rector Phalen responded ‘‘That would elicit a very 

6 strong line of questioning with that individual and 

7 with others to determine what he means by that so 

8 that we can give a full picture to the adjudicator.’’. 

9 (12) When asked what would happen if Bannon 

10 denied making these statements, Director Phalen re11 sponded that background check investigators would 

12 ‘‘determine what the truth is’’. 

13 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF INDIVIDUALS WHO THREATEN TO 

14 DESTROY THE GOVERNMENT FROM PARTICI15 PATING IN OR ATTENDING NATIONAL SECU16 RITY COUNCIL MEETINGS. 

17 (a) PROHIBITION.—Section 101(c) of the National 

18 Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3021(c)) is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘The Presi20 dent’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in para21 graph (3), the President’’; and 

22 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

23 paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(3) INDIVIDUALS WHO THREATEN TO DE25 STROY THE GOVERNMENT.—Any individual who 


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1 threatens to destroy the Government, including in 

2 speech, written form, or through action, may not 

3 participate in or attend any meeting of the Council 

4 or any meeting of the Principal’s Committee.’’. 

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Paragraph (3) of subsection 

6 (c) of section 101 of the National Security Act of 1947 

7 (50 U.S.C. 3021) shall take effect on the date that is 30 

8 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

9 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING THE SUSPEN10 SION OF SECURITY CLEARANCES FOR FED11 ERAL EMPLOYEES WHO THREATEN TO DE12 STROY THE STATE. 

13 It is the sense of Congress that the head of a depart14 ment or agency of the Federal Government that issues a 

15 security clearance for an employee, including for an em16 ployee of the Executive Office of the President, should 

17 consider suspending the security clearance of the em18 ployee, if the employee threatens or has threatened to de19 stroy the State or to take hostile actions against the 

20 United States, to ensure such employee does not pose a 

21 threat to the United States. 

Æ 


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