[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 22 (Thursday, February 2, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S220]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Classified Documents

  Mrs. FISCHER. Mr. President, when I joined the Senate Armed Services 
Committee in 2013, I encountered a new world of information. Along with 
that information came a new world of security measures. As a member of 
that committee, I reviewed document after document apprising me of 
critical national security developments. I also received strict orders 
not to share the classified information that I encountered. The 
American people expect Senators tasked with this solemn duty to take 
our responsibility seriously.
  Let me illustrate just how restrictive the rules are around these 
classified documents. When I receive classified information, I have to 
go to a secured place known as a SCIF to read the documents. There, a 
security manager and often a Capitol police officer will perform checks 
when I enter and when I exit.
  My background on Armed Services is one of the many reasons that I am 
shocked at the news that classified documents dating back to President 
Biden's time in the Senate were found sitting haphazardly in his garage 
this month. The President's personal attorney confirmed that some of 
those documents came from the Senate, and they have apparently been 
collecting dust next to the President's Corvette for years.
  It is also concerning that the President's documents were found, in 
the first place, by personal lawyers without the necessary clearances 
to view those classified materials.
  We have all learned recently that the executive branch has issues 
regulating documents. I have refrained from commenting on that issue 
because I have never been a part of that branch of our government, and 
so I cannot speak to their regulations. But in the Senate, we have 
strict protocols that protect classified information.
  Based on the rigorous security standards of the Senate, it is 
important that we now ask hard questions. How did classified Senate 
documents make their way from the Capitol Complex past Senate security 
managers and all the way to the President's House in Delaware? I think 
most people believe that this demonstrates incompetence, at best. If a 
newly elected Nebraska Senator in 2013 could figure out how these 
security procedures work, surely, a career politician like then-Senator 
Joe Biden could do so.
  As chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, former Senator Biden 
likely had access to information that could have jeopardized lives, 
especially those of patriots serving in sensitive roles overseas. 
President Biden should know that leaked information puts people in 
danger. This affects all Americans, including the many Nebraskans that 
are serving abroad, not to mention that it impedes our national 
security here at home.
  Of course, we have no idea what is in the Senate documents that found 
their way to Wilmington, DE, because the President and his personal 
attorneys refuse to share them with Congress. The Biden administration 
argues that it cannot brief us on the mishandled documents because of 
the ongoing special counsel investigation. There is precedent for 
intelligence briefings coinciding with special counsel investigations.
  As my friend Senator Cornyn said last week, there are public safety 
and national security concerns that make this an exceptional case. If 
there was a breakdown in Senate protocols to protect classified 
information, then we need to know that and we need to know it 
immediately. That is the only way that we will know how to rectify the 
potential problems caused by the President's unsecured Senate 
documents.
  We, at least, need to know what the general subject of the documents 
or the area of the world that they cover. I am proud of my colleagues 
on the Intelligence Committee, both Democrats and Republicans, for 
realizing the seriousness of this issue. I hope that we can continue to 
set aside partisan politics and that we can uncover the truth in this 
matter.
  President Biden's comment on his handling of documents a couple of 
weeks ago was that he has ``no regrets.'' Let me tell you, Mr. 
President, if a sitting Senator was found to have mishandled classified 
information, it would be more than just regrettable; it would call into 
question his or her capacity to serve in this Chamber, and it would be 
a slap in the face to the hard-working men and women of the 
Intelligence Committee. By the time we uncover the truth about these 
documents, I hope that the President will have learned to regret his 
bad decision.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. HASSAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.