[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 158 (Thursday, September 29, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S5766]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 6246. Ms. DUCKWORTH submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
to amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) 
and intended to be proposed to the bill H.R. 7900, to authorize 
appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for military activities of the 
Department of Defense, for military construction, and for defense 
activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel 
strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was 
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. _____. PUBLICATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF OPINIONS.

       Section 521 of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
       (1) by inserting ``(a) In General.--'' before ``The 
     Attorney General''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(b) OLC Opinions.--
       ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection, the following terms 
     shall apply:
       ``(A) Final olc opinion.--The term `final OLC opinion' 
     means an OLC opinion that--
       ``(i) the Attorney General, Assistant Attorney General for 
     the Office of Legal Counsel, or a Deputy Assistant General 
     for the Office of Legal Counsel, has determined is final;
       ``(ii) is relied upon by government officials or government 
     contractors;
       ``(iii) is relied upon to formulate legal guidance; or
       ``(iv) is directly or indirectly cited in another OLC 
     opinion.
       ``(B) OLC opinion.--The term `OLC opinion'--
       ``(i) means views on a matter of legal interpretation 
     communicated by the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department 
     of Justice to any other office or agency, or person in an 
     office or agency, in the Executive Branch, including any 
     office in the Department of Justice, the White House, or the 
     Executive Office of the President, and rendered in accordance 
     with sections 511 through 513; and
       ``(ii) includes--

       ``(I) in the case of a verbal communication of a legal 
     interpretation, a memorialization of that communication;
       ``(II) a final OLC opinion; and
       ``(III) a revised OLC opinion.

       ``(C) Revised olc opinion.--The term `revised OLC opinion' 
     means an OLC opinion--
       ``(i) that is withdrawn;
       ``(ii) to which information is added; or
       ``(iii) from which information is removed.
       ``(2) Requirement.--Subject to paragraph (3) and in 
     accordance with paragraph (4), the Attorney General shall 
     publish all OLC opinions on the public website of the 
     Department to be accessed by the public free of charge.
       ``(3) Redaction of classified information.--
       ``(A) In general.--In the case of an OLC opinion required 
     to be published under paragraph (2) that contains information 
     classified as confidential, secret, or top secret, the 
     Attorney General shall--
       ``(i) redact the classified information from the OLC 
     opinion before publication of the OLC opinion; and
       ``(ii) establish and preserve an accurate record 
     documenting each redaction from the OLC opinion, including 
     information describing in detail why public online disclosure 
     of the classified information would have resulted in the 
     associated harm that pertains to each level of 
     classification.
       ``(B) Limitation.--The Attorney General may not redact 
     information under this paragraph that is sensitive but 
     unclassified.
       ``(C) Submission to congress.--In the case of an OLC 
     opinion described in subparagraph (A), the Attorney General 
     shall submit the full opinion, without redaction, to any 
     Member of Congress and any appropriately cleared 
     congressional staff member.
       ``(D) Periodic review.--To the maximum extent practicable, 
     the Attorney General shall, on a continual basis and not less 
     frequently than once every 90 days--
       ``(i) review every OLC opinion published under this 
     subsection that contains redactions of classified 
     information; and
       ``(ii) remove any redactions that no longer protect 
     information that is classified as either sensitive, secret, 
     or top secret.
       ``(4) Deadline for publication.--
       ``(A) In general.--Each OLC opinion issued by the Office of 
     Legal Counsel of the Department after the date of enactment 
     of the DOJ OLC Transparency Act shall be published in 
     accordance with this section as soon as practicable, but not 
     later than 48 hours, after the date of issuance of the 
     opinion.
       ``(B) Previously issued opinions.--In the case of OLC 
     opinions issued before the date of enactment of the DOJ OLC 
     Transparency Act, the Attorney General shall, subject to 
     subparagraph (C)--
       ``(i) not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of 
     the DOJ OLC Transparency Act, publish all of the OLC opinions 
     issued during fiscal years 2020 through 2023;
       ``(ii) not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 
     of the DOJ OLC Transparency Act, publish all of the OLC 
     opinions issued during fiscal years 2000 through 2019;
       ``(iii) not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 
     of the DOJ OLC Transparency Act, publish all of the OLC 
     opinions issued during fiscal years 1980 through 1999;
       ``(iv) not later than 120 days after the date of enactment 
     of the DOJ OLC Transparency Act, publish all of the OLC 
     opinions issued during fiscal years 1960 through 1979; and
       ``(v) not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 
     the DOJ OLC Transparency Act, publish all of the OLC opinions 
     issued before fiscal year 1960.
       ``(C) Description of certain opinions.--In the case of an 
     OLC opinion issued by the Office of Legal Counsel of the 
     Department before the date of enactment of the DOJ OLC 
     Transparency Act for which the text of the OLC opinion cannot 
     be located, the Attorney General shall--
       ``(i) publish a description of the OLC opinion; and
       ``(ii) submit a written certification to Congress, under 
     penalty of perjury, that--

       ``(I) a good faith effort was made to find the text of the 
     OLC opinion; and
       ``(II) the text of the OLC opinion is unavailable.

       ``(5) Right of action.--
       ``(A) In general.--On complaint brought by a complainant 
     who has been harmed as a result of being deprived access to 
     an OLC opinion that is required to be made available to the 
     public free of charge on the public website of the Department 
     under this subsection, the district court of the United 
     States in the district in which the complainant resides, or 
     has his principal place of business, or in the District of 
     Columbia, has jurisdiction to enjoin the Office of Legal 
     Counsel from withholding information required to be made 
     available under this subsection and to order the production 
     of information improperly withheld from the complainant.
       ``(B) Review.--In a case brought under subparagraph (A)--
       ``(i) the court--

       ``(I) shall determine the matter de novo; and
       ``(II) may examine the contents of the opinion issued by 
     the Office of Legal Counsel in camera to determine whether 
     such information or any part thereof shall be withheld under 
     paragraph (3); and

       ``(ii) the burden is on the Office of Legal Counsel to 
     sustain its action.''.
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