White House Calls for Delay
on “Official Secrets Act”
Following signals from the Bush administration that it’s not ready to support legislation to criminalize the unauthorized disclosure of classified information by federal employees, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence called off its long-scheduled September 5 hearing on the controversial measure.
The Washington Post reported September 5 that the bill’s author, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), agreed to the postponement after Attorney General John Ashcroft asked for more time to study the issue. A White House spokesman told the Post the administration is still “reviewing whether a new criminal statute is needed.” The administration suggested that the hearing be replaced by the formation of an interagency working group to determine whether a new law is necessary to stop leaks.
The American Library Association, the American Association of Law Libraries, and the Association of Research Libraries are among the groups that have voiced opposition to the legislation. The Post reported that the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), has said he would require that the measure be offered as a stand-alone bill rather than a provision attached to the intelligence authorization bill.
Posted September 10, 2001.
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