[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 172 (Friday, October 1, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S6876]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 AUTHORIZING REPRESENTATION BY THE SENATE LEGAL COUNSEL IN THE CASE OF 
               SHAWN MUSGRAVE V. J. THOMAS MANGER, ET AL.

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 406, which was 
submitted earlier today.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the resolution by 
title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 406) to authorize representation by 
     the Senate Legal Counsel in the case of Shawn Musgrave v. J. 
     Thomas Manger, et al.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this resolution concerns a lawsuit filed 
in Federal court in the District of Columbia against the Secretary of 
the Senate and her office and that seeks to force the Secretary to 
provide the plaintiff with a copy of the Senate security manual. That 
manual, which is for internal Senate use and is not publicly available, 
sets forth the procedures for handling classified national security 
information within the Senate. Plaintiff claims that he has a common 
law right, never before applied to Senate records, to review this 
Senate document despite the security manual being restricted to 
internal Senate distribution given the sensitivity of the procedures 
for protecting classified information maintained by the Senate.
  Plaintiff's suit seeking to compel the production of this Senate 
document encroaches upon the Senate's constitutional prerogative to 
decide which documents to keep confidential and interferes with the 
independence of the Senate in establishing its own internal rules and 
guidelines for handling information necessary to carrying out its 
legislative and oversight responsibilities. This resolution would 
authorize the Senate legal counsel to represent the Secretary and her 
office in this case in order to seek dismissal of this suit.
  Mr. WYDEN. I further ask that the resolution be agreed to, the 
preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made 
and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 406) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  (The resolution, with its preamble, is printed in today's Record 
under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')

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