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Fwd: Benghazi related item

From:mkeefe@hillaryclinton.com To: john.podesta@gmail.com, jsullivan@hillaryclinton.com Date: 2015-11-05 22:19 Subject: Fwd: Benghazi related item

Nita Lowey's office is asking for guidance on whether to wage this fight again on the omnibus or to let it lie, given where we are on Benghazi. Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: * I'm very excited to have you on board and enjoyed seeing you today. Here is the info we should discuss next week. Let me know about how I can help for next Friday. Talk soon. *Bill language: * PRESERVATION AND TRANSPARENCY OF DEPARTMENT OF STATE RECORDS SEC. 7077. Of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act under the heading ‘‘Diplomatic and Consular Programs’’ and not designated for Worldwide Security Protection, percent shall be withheld from obligation until the Secretary of State— (a) certifies and reports to the Committees on Appropriations in writing that the Department of State has updated policies, directives, and oversight necessary to comply with Federal statutes, regulations, and presidential executive orders and memorandum concerning the preservation of all records made or received in the conduct of official business, including record emails, instant messaging, and other online tools, and has taken steps to improve the response time for identifying and retrieving such records: *Provided*, That the certification required by this section shall include at a minimum that— (1) all employees at every level of the Department have been directed to ensure that the documentation of their official duties is captured, preserved, managed, protected, and accessible in official Government systems; (2) all departing employees at every level have been directed that all Federal records generated by employees, including senior officials, belong to the Department; (3) the Department has implemented all recommendations of the Office of the Inspector General of the Department in the March 2015 Review of State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset and Record Email (ISP-1-15-15); (4) the Department has developed and is implementing a plan to both reduce the backlog of Freedom of Information Act and Congressional oversight requests and measurably improve the response time for answering such requests; and (5) updated policies for Department employees have been codified in the Foreign Affairs Manual; and (b) requests from the Committees on Appropriations in writing the authority to obligate such funds and such Committees issue an approval, or absent a response, a period of 15 days has elapsed. *Report language*: Sec. 7077 includes new language withholding a portion of funds appropriated by the Act for Department of State operations until the Secretary of State makes certain certifications concerning updating policies, directives, and oversight necessary to comply with Federal statutes, regulations, and presidential executive orders and memoranda concerning the preservation of all records made or received in the conduct of official business, including record emails. Amendment to State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill Offered by Mrs. Lowey of New York Strike section 7077 (relating to limitation relating to the preservation and transparency of Department of State Records) On page 86 of the Committee Report strike text relating to section 7077. *Lowey Amendment (#1) striking Benghazi motivated witholding (section 7077)* *Amendment description: Striking the new general provision withholding operational funds on preservation and transparency of State Department records.* · Mr. Chairman I rise to offer an amendment, #1. *(WAIT AS THE CLERK REPORTS /READS THE AMENDMENT)* · I ask unanimous consent to dispense with the reading. *(PAUSE AND WAIT FOR CHAIRMAN ROGERS TO GRANT UNANIMOUS CONSENT)* · Mr. Chairman, this bill has a long-standing tradition of a spirit of bipartisanship. That is why I was so dismayed by a new provision in this year’s mark, dragging politics into the central operations of the State Department. · This provision, innocently titled “Preservation and Transparency of Department of State Records,” is merely the latest effort in the Republican crusade to profit politically from the tragedy of Benghazi. This incident should motivate us to responsibly carry out reforms to keep our diplomats safe; instead it has inspired a scapegoating, political exercise to influence the 2016 presidential election. · The chairperson of the Benghazi Select Committee, Congressman Gowdy, has been brazen in touting this proposal to cut State Department funds based on claims of delays in information sharing. · This is a red herring. The State Department has already provided45,000 documents to the Select Committee, including Secretary Clinton’s Benghazi-related emails. In addition, the Department has provided five briefings, witnesses at each of the Committee’s three hearings, and eighteen witness interviews. How is that non-cooperative? · I object to allowing the critical programs this bill funds to help the most vulnerable people around the world to be exploited for a destructive, frivolous political attack. · I support transparency. And I get as frustrated as any Member when Agencies are slow to answer congressional inquiries. · There are real challenges. Since 2008, State has seen its FOIA caseload increase by more than 300 percent, jumping from fewer than 6,000 to about 20,000 last year. That would be a challenge for any Department. · And the State Department is addressing it. This is not a case of denial. The State Department IG has looked critically, *and clear-eyed*, at the matter and issued recommendations in a March 2015 report. The Department is following up on the recommendations and should reasonably be given more than two months to fix these admitted problems. · It is completely illogical to cut staffing and resources with the expectation they will respond faster. This provision is counterproductive. Maybe my amendment should increase funding for staffing of that office instead of simply eliminating the absurd cut to State Department operations. · As I said in my opening, this provision is a sop to the Benghazi sham investigation wrapped in the name of transparency. This punitive, political hack job has no place in this bill, and I strongly urge my colleagues to support my amendment to strike it. *Lowey Amendment (#1) striking Benghazi-motivated withholding* *[1 minute close]* · Thank you, Mr. Chairman. · I have already detailed the extensive steps the State Department has taken to provide the requested information. It is hard to keep up when the goalposts keep moving. · As I’ve made clear, I am all for improving accountability, transparency, and Congressional oversight. · I know my Chair is very concerned about the large amount of FOIA requests, and I do not think she intended this provision to politicize our bill, but some outside our committee have made it a punitive, political gimmick. · At a time when we are dealing with various failed states, civil war, the rise of ISIL, and multiple humanitarian catastrophes, we should not withhold the State Department’s funding – our best defense against these, and many other, daunting challenges. · I hope my colleagues will support my amendment. Additional points: · To address why there is such a large FOIA backlog. From 2009 to 2014, the overall number of FOIA requests submitted to federal agencies increased by 28%, with new records set in each of the past four years in a row. Over the same time period the number of full-time FOIA staff at federal agencies was dropped from 4,000 to 3,838—a decrease of about 4%. · The number of requests has been skyrocketing, but agency budgets have been slashed—resulting in fewer staff to handle impossible workloads and this provision just adds to this problem, a problem that the State Department has recognized and is working to address.