I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5006 
To direct the Secretary of State to take certain actions for the declassification 
and publication of materials relating to the Afghanistan withdrawal, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 27, 2023 
Mr. ISSA (for himself, Mr. MAST, Mr. WALTZ, and Mr. MILLS) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of State to take certain actions 
for the declassification and publication of materials relat-
ing to the Afghanistan withdrawal, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. DECLASSIFICATION REVIEW AND PUBLICATION 
OF MATERIALS RELATING TO AFGHANISTAN 
WITHDRAWAL. 
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the American people deserve to understand the 
events and decision-making which resulted in the chaotic 
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withdrawal of United States personnel from Afghanistan 
in 2021. 
(b) DISSENT CHANNEL CABLE RELATING TO AF-
GHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL.— 
(1) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.— 
(A) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 5 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of State shall submit to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Re-
lations of the Senate a complete (and, except as 
provided in subparagraph (B), unredacted) copy 
of— 
(i) the dissent channel cable of the 
Department of State written on or about 
July 13, 2021, describing the likely con-
sequences of United States withdrawal 
from Afghanistan; and 
(ii) the official response of the De-
partment of State with respect to such dis-
sent channel cable. 
(B) AUTHORIZED REDACTIONS.—The Sec-
retary may redact the name of any signatory to 
the dissent channel cable specified in subpara-
graph (A). 
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(2) 
DECLASSIFICATION
REVIEW; 
PUBLICA-
TION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of State shall— 
(i) complete a declassification review 
to determine what, if any, information con-
tained within the dissent channel cable or 
the official response specified in paragraph 
(1)(A) may be declassified in accordance 
with the standards under subsection (d); 
(ii) declassify any information so de-
termined; and 
(iii) publish on a publicly available 
internet website of the Department of 
State such dissent channel cable and offi-
cial response, in unclassified form and con-
taining, in addition to any information pre-
viously unclassified, any other information 
declassified as a result of such declassifica-
tion review. 
(B) REQUIRED
REDACTIONS.—In pub-
lishing the dissent channel cable pursuant to 
subparagraph (A)(iii), the Secretary shall re-
dact the name, and any other personally identi-
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fiable information, of each signatory to such 
dissent channel cable. 
(c) 
DECLASSIFICATION
AND
PUBLICATION
OF 
AFTER-ACTION REVIEW OF DEPARTMENT OF STATE.— 
Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of State shall— 
(1) complete a declassification review to deter-
mine what, if any, additional information contained 
within the after-action review of the Department of 
State developed with respect to the Afghanistan 
withdrawal (in this section, referred to as the ‘‘after- 
action review’’) may be declassified in accordance 
with the standards under subsection (d); 
(2) declassify any information so determined; 
and 
(3) publish on a publicly available internet 
website of the Department of State a complete 
version of such after-action review containing, in ad-
dition to information previously unclassified, any 
other information declassified as a result of such de-
classification review. 
(d) STANDARDS FOR DECLASSIFICATION.—In con-
ducting each declassification review under this section 
with respect to given information, the Secretary of State 
shall declassify such information unless the Secretary de-
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termines the declassification would be incompatible with 
the national security interests of the United States or oth-
erwise inconsistent with the protection of intelligence 
sources and methods. 
Æ 
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