[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 24, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S1911]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      INTERNET INFORMATION POSTING

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, currently the House Commerce Committee is 
examining whether legislation is necessary to minimize the threat that 
a national, searchable electronic database of thousands of industrial 
``worst-case accident scenarios'' will be posted on the Internet, 
available for searching from anywhere in the world. This information 
would be, as House Commerce Committee Chairman Bliley put it, a 
blueprint for destruction. The FBI and other public safety agencies 
believe that allowing this information to be posted in a national 
electronic database would pave the way for terrorists seeking to attack 
buildings in American cities.
  EPA has agreed not to post this data on the Internet and that private 
parties should not post the data, either. The issue is not whether this 
information is public: it is, and the FBI has suggested way to provide 
Americans with the information while minimizing the terrorist threat. 
The issue is selecting an information distribution system that does not 
create a targeting tool that terrorists can use to disastrous and 
tragic ends. However, environmental groups have threatened to use the 
Freedom of Information Act to obtain the publicize the national 
database. Congress may have to act swiftly in order to address this 
issue before EPA receives the worst-case scenarios by the June 21 
filing date.
  Mr. President, this is not a environmental or right-to-know issue. 
This is an issue of national safety, and we must treat it as just that. 
Congress cannot be responsible for facilitating terrorist attacks on 
American cities. The safety of the American people should always be 
Congress' top priority.

                          ____________________