II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 167

To create a bipartisan commission to recommend ways to strengthen the

protection of classified information and eliminate the classification of

non-sensitive information.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 21 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 1993

Mr. MOYNIHAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To create a bipartisan commission to recommend ways to

strengthen the protection of classified information and

eliminate the classification of non-sensitive information.

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

3 TITLE I—SHORT TITLE

4 SEC. 101. This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protection

5 and Reduction of Government Secrecy Act’’.
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1 TITLE II—COMMISSION ON PROTECTING AND

2 REDUCING GOVERNMENT SECRECY

3 PURPOSE

4 SEC. 201. It is the purpose of this title to establish

5 a study commission which will examine the implications

6 of the systematic overclassification of information and to

7 make recommendations to reduce the volume of informa8 tion classified and to strengthen the protection of legiti9 mately classified information.

10 FINDINGS

11 SEC. 202. (a) Following World War II the United

12 States and the Soviet Union engaged in a global conflict

13 known as the Cold War;

14 (b) During the Cold War a secrecy system developed

15 to enormous proportions, thereby limiting the public’s ac16 cess to vital information and reducing the ability of the

17 public to participate with full knowledge in the process of

18 governmental decision-making;

19 (c) In 1990 6,797,720 documents were classified and

20 approximately three million persons held some form of se21 curity clearance;

22 (d) The burden of managing nearly 7 million newly

23 classified documents every year has led to reduced commu24 nication within the government and within the scientific

25 community, reduced communication between the govern26 ment and the people of the United States, tremendous ad-
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1 ministrative expense and the selective and unauthorized

2 public disclosure of classified information;

3 (e) The requirement that approximately three million

4 persons obtain security clearances represents a substantial

5 loss of individual privacy which is inconsistent with Amer6 ican traditions;

7 (f) If a smaller amount of truly sensitive information

8 was classified expense, lost privacy and inhibitions on pub9 lic discussion would be reduced and the remaining classi10 fied information could be held more securely;

11 (g) In 1970 a Task Force organized by the Defense

12 Science Board and headed by Dr. Frederick Seitz con13 cluded that ‘‘more might be gained than lost if our Nation

14 were to adopt—unilaterally, if necessary—a policy of com15 plete openness in all areas of information;’’ and,

16 (h) A bipartisan study commission specially con17 stituted for the purpose of examining the consequences of

18 the secrecy system will be able to offer comprehensive pro19 posals for reform.

20 FUNCTION OF THE COMMISSION

21 SEC. 203. (a) The function of the Commission shall

22 be—

23 (1) to conduct an investigation into all matters

24 in any way related to any legislation, executive

25 order, regulation, practice or procedure relating to

26 the access to or the classification of information or
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1 involving security clearances, including without limi2 tation access to classified information under the

3 Freedom of Information Act;

4 (2) to make such recommendations concerning

5 the classification of national security information as

6 the Commission shall see fit, including proposing

7 new legislation.

8 COMPOSITION OF THE COMMISSION

9 SEC. 204. (a) To carry out the purposes of this title,

10 there is established a Commission on the Protection and

11 Reduction of Government Secrecy (hereafter referred to

12 in this title as the ‘‘Commission’’).

13 (b) The Commission shall be composed of the follow14 ing twelve members:

15 (1) four members appointed by the President,

16 two from the executive branch of the Government

17 and two from private life;

18 (2) four members appointed by the President of

19 the Senate, two from the Senate (one from each of

20 the two major political parties) and two from private

21 life; and

22 (3) four members appointed by the Speaker of

23 the House of Representatives, two from the House

24 of Representatives (one from each of the two major

25 political parties) and two from private life.
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1 (c) The Commission shall elect a Chairman and a

2 Vice Chairman from among its members.

3 (d) Seven members of the Commission shall con4 stitute a quorum. Any vacancy in the Commission shall

5 not affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same man6 ner in which the original appointment was made.

7 (e) COMPENSATION AND TRAVEL EXPENSES.—

8 (1) COMPENSATION IN GENERAL.—Except as

9 provided in paragraph (2), each member of the Com10 mission may be compensated at not to exceed the

11 daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay in

12 effect for grade GS–18 of the General Schedule

13 under section 5332 of title 5, United States Code,

14 for each day during which that member is engaged

15 in the actual performance of the duties of the Com16 mission.

17 (2) GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL.—Members of

18 the Commission who are full-time officers or employ19 ees of the United States or Members of Congress

20 shall receive no additional pay on account of their

21 service on the Commission.

22 (3) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—While away from

23 their homes or regular places of business in the per24 formance of services for the Commission, members

25 of the Commission shall be allowed travel expenses,
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1 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, in the

2 same manner as persons employed intermittently in

3 the Government service are allowed expenses under

4 section 5703(b) of title 5, United States Code.

5 POWERS OF THE COMMISSION

6 SEC. 205. (a) The Commission, or on the authoriza7 tion of the Commission, any subcommittee or member

8 hereof, may, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions

9 of this title, hold such hearings and sit and act at such

10 times and places, administer such oaths, and require, by

11 subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and testimony of

12 such witnesses and the production of such books, records,

13 correspondence, memorandums, papers, and documents as

14 the Commission or such subcommittee or member may

15 deem advisable. Subpoenas may be issued under the signa16 ture of the Chairman of the Commission, of any such sub17 committee, or any designated member, and may be served

18 by any person designated by such Chairman or member.

19 The provisions of sections 102 through 104 of the Revised

20 Statutes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 192–194) shall

21 apply in the case of any failure of any witness to comply

22 with any subpena or to testify when summoned under au23 thority of this section.

24 (b) The Commission is authorized to secure directly

25 from any executive department, bureau, agency, board,

26 commission, office, independent establishment, or instru-
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1 mentality information, suggestions, estimates, and statis2 tics for the purpose of this title. Each such department,

3 bureau, agency, board, commission, office, establishment,

4 or instrumentality is authorized and directed, to the extent

5 authorized by law, to furnish such information, sugges6 tions, estimates, and statistics directly to the Commission,

7 upon request made by the Chairman or Vice Chairman.

8 STAFF OF THE COMMISSION

9 SEC. 206. (a) The Commission shall have power to

10 appoint and fix the compensation of such personnel as it

11 deems advisable, without regard to the provisions of title

12 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the

13 competitive service, and without regard to the provisions

14 of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such

15 title relating to classification and General Schedule pay

16 rates.

17 (b) The Commission is authorized to procure the

18 services of experts and consultants in accordance with sec19 tion 3109 of title 5, United States Code, but at rates not

20 to exceed the daily rate paid a person occupying a position

21 at GS–18.

22 EXPENSES OF THE COMMISSION

23 SEC. 207. There are authorized to be appropriated

24 such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions

25 of this title.

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