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<CRDoc>[Congressional Record Volume <volume>157</volume>, Number <number>196</number> (<weekday>Monday</weekday>, <month>December</month> <day>19</day>, <year>2011</year>)] | |
[<chamber>House</chamber>] | |
[Pages <pages>H9937-H9938</pages>] | |
<congress>112</congress> | |
<session>1</session> | |
<document_title>EXTENSION OF REDACTION AUTHORITY CONCERNING SENSITIVE SECURITY | |
INFORMATION</document_title> | |
<speaker name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">Mr. SMITH of Texas</speaker>. <speaking name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and | |
concur in the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 1059) to protect the | |
safety of judges by extending the authority of the Judicial Conference | |
to redact sensitive information contained in their financial disclosure | |
reports, and for other purposes.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">The Clerk read the title of the bill.</speaking> | |
<recorder> The text of the Senate amendment is as follows:</recorder> | |
<speaking quote="true" speaker="recorder">Senate amendment: | |
On page 2, line 6 through 8 strike and insert: | |
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``Marshall'' and | |
inserting ``Marshals''; | |
(2) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ``and the Senate | |
Committee on Homeland Security and | |
Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and | |
Government Reform'' after ``Senate''; and | |
(3) in subparagraph (E), by striking ``2011'' both places | |
it appears and inserting ``2017''.</speaking> | |
<speaker name="The SPEAKER pro tempore">The SPEAKER pro tempore</speaker>. <speaking name="The SPEAKER pro tempore">Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from | |
Texas (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) each | |
will control 20 minutes.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="The SPEAKER pro tempore">The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.</speaking> | |
<title>General Leave</title> | |
<speaker name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">Mr. SMITH of Texas</speaker>. <speaking name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all | |
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend | |
their remarks and to include extraneous material on the motion to | |
concur currently under consideration.</speaking> | |
<speaker name="The SPEAKER pro tempore">The SPEAKER pro tempore</speaker>. <speaking name="The SPEAKER pro tempore">Is there objection to the request of the | |
gentleman from Texas?</speaking> | |
<recorder> There was no objection.</recorder> | |
<title>{time} </title> 1640 | |
<speaker name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">Mr. SMITH of Texas</speaker>. <speaking name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may | |
consume.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">I support H.R. 1059 and thank Mr. Conyers for sponsoring it. I also | |
thank Mr. Cohen of Tennessee and Mr. Johnson of Georgia for serving as | |
cosponsors.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">H.R. 1059 promotes an important goal, providing security for Federal | |
judges. Under the Ethics in Government Act, judges and other high-level | |
judicial branch officials must file annual financial disclosure | |
reports. This requirement increases public confidence in government | |
officials and better enables the public to judge the performance of | |
those officials. However, Congress enacted legislation that allows the | |
Judicial Conference to redact statutorily required information in a | |
financial disclosure report where the release of the information could | |
endanger the filer or their family.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">Those who seek to harm or intimidate Federal judges might use a | |
disclosure form to identify where someone's spouse or child works or | |
goes to school on a regular basis. Individuals targeting judges for | |
harassment have also been known to file false claims on property owned | |
by judges and their families. Harassers could use judicial financial | |
disclosure reports to more easily identify such property.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">The Judicial Conference delegated to its Committee on Financial | |
Disclosure the responsibility to implement the financial disclosure | |
requirements for judges and judicial employees under the Ethics in | |
Government Act. The committee monitors the release of financial | |
disclosure reports to ensure compliance with the statute.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">In consultation with U.S. Marshals Service, the committee also | |
reviews and approves or disapproves any request for redaction or | |
statutorily mandated information where the filer believes the release | |
of the information could endanger the filer and their family. Under the | |
Judicial Conference's regulations, no redaction will be granted without | |
a clear nexus between a security risk and the information for which | |
redaction is sought.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">The law has worked well through the years and has been reauthorized | |
twice since 2001; but it expires at the end of this calendar year if we | |
fail to act, an outcome that is unacceptable.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">Last year the Marshals Service investigated and analyzed almost 1,400 | |
threats and inappropriate communications to judicial officials, nearly | |
three times as many threats as recorded in 2003. And there were more | |
than 3,900 incidents and arrests at U.S. court facilities in 2010.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">Financial disclosures help maintain an open and transparent | |
government, but government transparency should not come at the cost of | |
personal security for government officials. Judges and other judicial | |
employees perform important work that is integral to our democratic | |
system of government. In order to preserve the integrity of our | |
democracy, we must protect the integrity of our courts; and that means | |
ensuring the security of judges and other judicial employees from | |
intimidation and threats.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">The Senate made two minor amendments to the bill, which we accept. | |
The first amendment involves an annual report that the administrative | |
Office of the U.S. Courts submits to the House and Senate Judiciary | |
Committees. The report summarizes the redactions made in the preceding | |
year and explains why they were made. The first amendment mandates that | |
the report also be sent to the House Oversight and Government Reform | |
Committee, as well as the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental | |
Affairs Committee. The second amendment sunsets the redaction authority | |
after 6 years, in 2017.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">Mr. Speaker, I support H.R. 1059, as amended by the Senate, and urge | |
my colleagues to extend the redaction authority.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">I reserve the balance of my time.</speaking> | |
<speaker name="Mr. CONYERS">Mr. CONYERS</speaker>. <speaking name="Mr. CONYERS">Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="Mr. CONYERS">I want to commend the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, the | |
gentleman from Texas, Lamar Smith, for his cooperation in bringing this | |
bill out of committee and through the Congress.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="Mr. CONYERS">On September 12 of this year, my bill passed the House unanimously. | |
The requirement that judges and judicial branch employees disclose | |
their personal finances promotes openness in the Federal Government. It | |
reduces the risk of corruption, prevents the appearance of impropriety, | |
and also sheds some transparency on what we do in the third branch of | |
government.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="Mr. CONYERS">Unfortunately, sometimes these required disclosures can include | |
specific information about the filer's residence, a spouse's workplace, | |
a child's workplace, or a vacation home. This information has the | |
potential to place individual judges, employees, and their families at | |
risk. So what we're doing here is allowing a redaction by the Judicial | |
Conference. The bill's redaction authority is critical to ensuring that | |
this information does not get into the wrong hands and the whole idea | |
is to make sure that some of the Federal judges whose lives have been | |
lost and others whose family members have lost their lives by | |
disgruntled litigants will not be made available to them.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="Mr. CONYERS">The Judicial Conference is very careful in granting redaction | |
authority. And although I would have preferred a permanent redaction | |
authority, I'm perfectly willing to support a 6-year authority with | |
extension possibilities. I look forward to the President signing this | |
bill into law immediately.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="Mr. CONYERS">I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of | |
my time.</speaking> | |
<speaker name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">Mr. SMITH of Texas</speaker>. <speaking name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time | |
as well.</speaking> | |
<speaker name="The SPEAKER pro tempore">The SPEAKER pro tempore</speaker>. <speaking name="The SPEAKER pro tempore">The question is on the motion offered by the | |
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules and | |
concur in the Senate amendment to the bill, H.R. 1059.</speaking> | |
<recorder> The question was taken.</recorder> | |
<speaker name="The SPEAKER pro tempore">The SPEAKER pro tempore</speaker>. <speaking name="The SPEAKER pro tempore">In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds | |
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.</speaking> | |
<speaker name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">Mr. SMITH of Texas</speaker>. <speaking name="Mr. SMITH of Texas">Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground | |
that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum | |
is not present.</speaking> | |
<speaker name="The SPEAKER pro tempore">The SPEAKER pro tempore</speaker>. <speaking name="The SPEAKER pro tempore">Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further | |
proceedings on this question will be postponed.</speaking> | |
<speaking name="The SPEAKER pro tempore">The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.</speaking> | |
</CRDoc> |
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