I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5697 
To prohibit any officer or employee of the Federal Government who has 
exercised extreme carelessness in the handling of classified information 
from being granted or retaining a security clearance. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 8, 2016 
Mr. MCCAUL (for himself and Mr. OLSON) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 
and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To prohibit any officer or employee of the Federal Govern-
ment who has exercised extreme carelessness in the han-
dling of classified information from being granted or 
retaining a security clearance. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taking Responsibility 
Using Secured Technologies Act of 2016’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) On July 5, 2016, the Director of the Fed-
eral Bureau of Investigation (in this section referred 
to as the ‘‘FBI’’), James B. Comey, made a state-
ment relating to the investigation into the use of a 
personal e-mail system by Hillary Clinton during the 
period that she was Secretary of State. 
(2) The FBI found evidence that Secretary 
Clinton and her colleagues were extremely careless 
in handling very sensitive, highly classified informa-
tion. 
(3) The FBI also found that any reasonable in-
dividual in the position of Secretary Clinton, or in 
the position of the Federal employees with whom 
Secretary Clinton was corresponding about these 
matters, should have known that using an unclassi-
fied system was inappropriate when conducting clas-
sified conversations. 
(4) Because of the conduct of Secretary Clinton 
and her colleagues, the FBI concluded that it is pos-
sible that hostile actors gained access to the e-mail 
account of Secretary Clinton. 
(5) In similar circumstances, other individuals 
who engaged in this kind of activity would often face 
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adverse consequences, including security or adminis-
trative sanctions. 
(6) Presidential candidates typically receive 
classified briefings even if the candidates lack the 
requisite security clearance. 
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) Secretary Clinton should— 
(A) have any security clearance that she 
holds revoked; and 
(B) be denied access to classified informa-
tion unless and until she earns the legal right 
to such access; and 
(2) colleagues of Secretary Clinton who dem-
onstrated extreme carelessness in their handling of 
classified information should no longer have access 
to that information. 
SEC. 3. SECURITY CLEARANCES WITH RESPECT TO INDI-
VIDUALS WHO HAVE MISHANDLED CLASSI-
FIED INFORMATION. 
(a) GRANTING OF CLEARANCES.—No officer or em-
ployee of the Federal Government who has exercised ex-
treme carelessness in the handling of classified informa-
tion may be granted a security clearance. 
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