[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 626-627]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION EXEMPTING U.S. AIR FORCE'S OPERATING 
    LOCATION NEAR GROOM LAKE, NEVADA FROM DISCLOSURE OF CLASSIFIED 
      INFORMATION--MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore laid before the House the following message 
from the President of the United States; which was read and, together 
with the accompanying papers, without objection, referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce:

To the Congress of the United States:
  Consistent with section 6001(a) of the Resource Conservation and 
Recovery Act (RCRA) (the ``Act''), as amended, 42 U.S.C. 6961(a), 
notification is hereby given that on September 16, 2003, I issued 
Presidential Determination 2003-39 (copy enclosed) and thereby 
exercised the authority to grant certain exemptions under section 
6001(a) of the Act.
  Presidential Determination 2003-39 exempted the United States Air 
Force's operating location near Groom Lake, Nevada, from any Federal, 
State, interstate, or local hazardous or solid waste laws that might 
require the disclosure of classified information concerning that 
operating location to unauthorized persons. Information concerning

[[Page 627]]

activities at the operating location near Groom Lake has been properly 
determined to be classified, and its disclosure would be harmful to 
national security. Continued protection of this information is, 
therefore, in the paramount interest of the United States.
  The determination was not intended to imply that, in the absence of a 
Presidential exemption, RCRA or any other provision of law permits or 
requires the disclosure of classified information to unauthorized 
persons. The determination also was not intended to limit the 
applicability or enforcement of any requirement of law applicable to 
the Air Force's operating location near Groom Lake except those 
provisions, if any, that might require the disclosure of classified 
information.
                                                      George W. Bush.  
The White House, January 28, 2004.

                          ____________________