[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 82 (Thursday, May 11, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S2912]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            VOTE EXPLANATION

  Mrs. McCASKILL. Mr. President, I was necessarily absent for today's 
vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Robert 
Lighthizer to be U.S. Trade Representative, with the rank of 
Ambassador. I would have voted yea.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I intend to object to any unanimous 
consent request at the present time relating to the nomination of 
Courtney Elwood of Virginia to be the general counsel of the Central 
Intelligence Agency.
  I will object because the CIA has still not responded to my letters 
from April 14, 2014; and April 5, 2017, requesting declassification of 
two congressional notifications, CNs, about whistleblower 
communications. In 2014, the inspector general of the Intelligence 
Community issued two CNs about whistleblower communications. The first, 
sent on March 28, 2014, had the unclassified subject line 
``Whistleblower Communications.'' The second, sent on March 31, 2014, 
had the unclassified subject line ``Whistleblower Communications--
Clarification.'' Both documents were classified Secret/NOFORN. I 
requested that the CNs be declassified as soon as possible. More than 3 
years have passed since my initial request, and I still have not 
received declassified versions of the documents or an explanation of 
why the documents have not been declassified.
  The information contained in the two CNs raises serious policy 
implications, as well as potential Constitutional separation-of-powers 
issues. The CNs do not appear to contain any information about sources 
or methods, and there is a strong public interest in their content. As 
a matter of respect, for a coequal branch of government, my 
declassification request should have been processed in a timely manner. 
Moreover, under the executive branch's own regulations, there are time 
limits that apply to processing declassification requests and 
classification challenges that the CIA has failed to meet.
  In addition, I have requested copies of the CIA's PPD-19 procedures 
and policies which allow CIA whistleblowers to seek relief from 
reprisal, but the CIA has refused, stating that the documents are 
classified and for CIA's internal use only. PPD-19 was largely codified 
by the Intelligence Authorization Act, and so the CIA is also required 
by law to implement such a policy. It is now at issue in a Federal 
lawsuit challenging the CIA's failure to adhere to its own procedures 
under the Administrative Procedures Act.
  My objection is not intended to question the credentials of Ms. 
Elwood in any way. However, the CIA must recognize that it has an 
ongoing obligation to respond to Congressional inquiries in a timely 
and reasonable manner.

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