[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 74 (Tuesday, May 2, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S1454]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           National Security

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, years ago, we realized the government's 
failure to keep up with the amount of classified information is 
outdated; it is insufficient; and it is costly.
  It is important to improve our broken classification system to reduce 
costs, eliminate years of backlog, and create a more efficient system. 
But I now recognize there is another reason to do this beyond just the 
efficiency of good government. We now know, also, it is making our 
country more vulnerable.
  The disclosure of classified information threatens our country's 
security, diminishes the safety of our military, and damages our 
relationships with our allies.
  We are so overwhelmed protecting outdated documents that we have 
failed to meet the basic purpose of our classification system: protect 
classified information from bad actors.
  In the past year, our Nation experienced a number of harmful 
incidents relating to how classified information has been handled. Last 
year, we learned that classified information was improperly in the 
possession of the President, the former President, and the former Vice 
President.
  Last month, our Nation became aware of a number of documents 
allegedly leaked by a 21-year-old Air National Guardsman trying to 
impress his video game buddies.
  Regarding the latest leaks and the constant reporting streaming from 
them, I am mystified that such a person could have such broad access to 
some of our Nation's most sensitive information.
  The alleged leaker had a known history of threatening violence and a 
record that did not permit him to obtain a gun. How could he be trusted 
with a top security clearance?
  To protect the security of the United States, it is necessary for 
Congress to understand how these episodes happened, ascertain the 
damage that has been inflicted, and work to reduce the likelihood of 
them ever happening again.
  We must also overhaul how records are handled and who has access to 
them. I want to highlight the enormous amount of classified information 
that is already in the government's possession. In this digital era, 
the Federal Government is classifying more information than our current 
analog declassification efforts can meet.
  We are increasingly finding that information which should no longer 
be classified, including historical records subject to mandatory 
declassification, remain classified because the system is just simply 
overwhelmed.
  This comes at a cost of good governance: American taxpayers spend $18 
billion a year--$18 billion a year--on this broken system, and it 
prevents transparency, costly and not good government, citizens without 
information.
  When there are no compelling national security reasons to justify 
records remaining classified, public trust in government is undermined.
  Senator Wyden, the Senator from Oregon, and I have attempted to 
address this growing problem by introducing the Declassification Reform 
Act in the previous two Congresses.
  Following the recommendations of the Public Interest Declassification 
Board, we sought to designate the Director of National Intelligence as 
the official responsible to oversee an intelligence community-wide 
reform so that we don't fall further and further and further behind.
  The intelligence community recognizes the urgency of reforming the 
classification system. However, it remains a question of who is in 
charge of this process. An executive agent is necessary. The 
Declassification Reform Act establishes a working fund for Agencies to 
utilize.
  Our legislation doesn't resolve every problem associated with how 
government classifies and declassifies information. Too much 
information is classified, and administrations from both parties have 
allowed political considerations to interfere in the declassification 
process. But when records no longer require classification, neither 
disagreements about national security nor politics are to blame. It is 
an out-of-date system that is in need of leadership--leadership to 
reform it.
  A modernized declassification system will help eliminate years of 
backlog and create more efficiency and greater transparency.
  Modernizing our system would also apply to the process of tracking 
records that are supposed to remain classified so that we can better 
keep them secure, which is now the top priority for why we must 
immediately address this issue.
  We live in a very dangerous world. And information that is classified 
and should be classified should not be shared with others. And yet we 
saw that happen just last month. Sensitive information that must remain 
classified must be protected from carelessness or maliciousness. Yet 
the records that no longer need to remain classified should be made 
available in a timely fashion.
  I serve on the Senate Intelligence Committee. I look forward to 
introducing legislation with Senator Warner as chairman, Senator Cornyn 
and Senator Wyden, other members of that committee, to introduce 
legislation in the coming days to further address this issue.
  I also welcome the opportunity to work with my colleagues, both on 
the committee and in this Chamber, to advance this debate and reach 
solutions to improve an out-of-date declassification system and better 
protect our national security, the challenges we face in this country 
and around the world. Now is not the time for us to look the other way. 
We can do better, and we need to head down that path quickly.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.