[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 700 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 700

   To amend section 552 of title 5, United States Code, to apply the 
requirements of the Freedom of Information Act to the National Security 
                    Council, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 24, 2017

Mrs. Walorski introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend section 552 of title 5, United States Code, to apply the 
requirements of the Freedom of Information Act to the National Security 
                    Council, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Transparency in National Security 
Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The National Security Council (NSC) is mandated by 
        statute to advise the President with respect to the integration 
        of domestic, foreign, and military policies relating to the 
        national security and to perform such other functions as the 
        President may direct.
            (2) The NSC maintained an active Freedom of Information Act 
        (FOIA) program and responded to requests under Presidents Ford, 
        Carter, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush.
            (3) The 1996 case that eliminated the FOIA requirement for 
        the NSC, Armstrong v. Executive Office of the President, 
        concluded that the NSC does not exercise sufficiently 
        independent authority.
            (4) In the 20 years since the Armstrong case, former 
        Secretaries and Cabinet officials, including Leon Panetta and 
        Robert Gates, have spoken out concerning the increasing 
        centralization of power at the White House, and the NSC in 
        particular.
            (5) The Obama Administration issued Presidential Policy 
        Directive 1 on February 13, 2009, which established the roles 
        and responsibilities for the NSC and established the National 
        Security Advisor as the principal advisor to the President.
            (6) The NSC has grown 20 times in size since the 1960s and 
        now has approximately 400 employees.
            (7) The NSC's growth has accelerated in the recent 
        administrations, the NSC doubled in size to approximately 100 
        under President Clinton, the NSC doubled in size again to 
        approximately 200 under President George W. Bush, and has 
        doubled again under President Obama to nearly 400 employees.
            (8) Successive administrations have shifted the NSC's role 
        beyond coordinating and advising as was intended by the 
        National Security Act of 1947 and now use the NSC as the final 
        approval for military operations as well.
            (9) General Norton Schwartz, former Chief of Staff of the 
        Air Force stated, ``The NSC should not be activists. They 
        should have a limited, if any role, in execution.''.
            (10) Brent Scowcroft, National Security Advisor to 
        Presidents Ford and George H.W. Bush stated, ``The basic rule 
        is that you shouldn't have so many people that you can 
        duplicate the work of the departments.''.
            (11) The Presidential Records Act has been applied to the 
        NSC, given the NSC's growing autonomy and level of 
        responsibilities, the NSC should instead follow the disclosure 
        requirements of the FOIA and be obligated to preserve its 
        records in accordance with the Federal Records Act.

SEC. 3. APPLICATION OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT TO THE NATIONAL 
              SECURITY COUNCIL.

    Section 552(f)(1) of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred 
to as the Freedom of Information Act), is amended by inserting ``and 
the National Security Council'' after the ``Executive Office of the 
President''.

SEC. 4. APPLICATION.

    The amendment made by section 3 shall apply with respect to any 
record created by the National Security Council before, on, or after 
the date of the enactment of this Act.
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