National Security Whistleblowers Coalition
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE- August 3, 2006
Contact: Sibel Edmonds, National Security
Whistleblowers Coalition, sedmonds@nswbc.org
GOP SENATORS SUPPORT IMPLEMENTATION OF
OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT
Bill Eliminates Government’s Burden to Prove Damage in Prosecuting
Whistleblowers
Alexandria, VA---Senators Rick Santorum, R-PA, and Conrad Burns, R-MT, support
implementation of Official Secret’s Act, S.3774, introduced yesterday by Senator Christopher Bond, R-MO, to criminalize the
unauthorized disclosure of classified information. Bond's bill seeks to enable the Executive Branch in prosecuting
individuals engaged in disclosure of government secrets. According to the
release issued by Senator Bond’s office, the legislation seeks to unify current
law and ease the government's burden
in prosecuting and punishing leakers by eliminating the need to prove
that damage to the national security has or will result from a disclosure.
According to the new release by Secrecy News reports, the new Bond bill is
identical to the controversial anti-leak legislation sponsored by Senator
Richard Shelby in the FY 2001 Intelligence Authorization Act that was vetoed by President Clinton in November
2000. The bill was called the “Official Secrets Act,” after the U.K.’s
repressive criminal secrecy statutes.
The
United States has never had a statute generally criminalizing leaks or the
publication of sensitive information. Despite consideration at a number
of moments in our history, concern for the First Amendment and the principle
that the press acts as an important check on government abuse has thwarted all
previous efforts to pass such legislation. According to Professor William Weaver, NSWBC
Senior Advisor, “Such legislation is subject to a double standard in its
application. For example, much information is leaked to the press with the approval of administrators.
These sorts of leaks are an
unofficial channel for shoring up administration positions and to influence
public opinion. On the other hand, unauthorized leaks would be prosecuted when they undermine administration
positions or embarrass the executive branch or reveal illegal agency
activity. So whether or not a person is prosecuted depends on whether or
not the leak is popular or unpopular
with the administration in power at the time of the leak. If the statute were to be applied evenhandedly, the
jails would be full of administrators and presidential advisors.”
Rather than a genuine effort to enhance
national security, this legislation is designed to deter legitimate
whistleblowing. The result is that the statute would create an
"Official Secrets Act" similar to that found in Great Britain.
But, obviously, Great Britain does not have a First Amendment and we do. The government
has consistently failed in its burden to prove that recent leaks of national
security information somehow harmed the United States. Rather, these
disclosures have encouraged public discussion on issues of executive abuses
that this administration has tried very hard to cover up. Justice
Brandeis wrote: "those who won our independence believed . . . that public
discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle
of the American government." Current law already
protects against disclosure of specific types of sensitive information, like
the design of a nuclear warhead or a covert agent’s identities. Legislation
that places the First Amendment entirely in the hands of the Executive Branch,
such as Bond’s Bill, is unconstitutional on its face. The Nation’s
Founders chose not to implement an Official Secret’s Act on our public servants
and there is no need for such a law now.
GAP Legal Director, Tom Devine, stated:
“This is a bill to protect the bureaucracy, not America's security. It is about
covering up government abuses of power that only can be sustained through
secrecy. It is about canceling freedom of speech when it counts, by
criminalizing whistleblowers who make unclassified disclosures. Most
whistleblowers who would be targeted are those exposing cover-ups of the
government's own security breaches.”
On June 29, 2006,
The National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC),
issued its list of Twelve Senators and Representatives, its Whistleblowers’ Dirty Dozen, who by their action
or inaction, have stood against real investigations, hearings, and legislation
dealing with government whistleblowers who have exposed waste, fraud, abuse,
and or criminal activities within government agencies. Senator Rick Santorum,
R-PA, made the list. “Senator Santorum is on our list due to being very
consistent in his stand against whistleblowers’ protection and his strong
support for unchecked and excessive government secrecy. His strong support of
this new repressive bill, which takes away congress’ right to know in order to
exercise its oversight authority, goes a long way to demonstrate why he is an
incumbent candidate unfit to represent our people and their interest and rights
guaranteed under the constitution. Mr. Santorum acts as an extension of the
executive branch that seeks to override the Separation of Powers and expand its
power; not as an elected senator who has been vested with authority and a
position to serve his constituents,” stated
Sibel
Edmonds, NSWBC Founder and Director.
National Security Whistleblowers Coalition, founded in August
2004, is an independent and nonpartisan alliance of whistleblowers who have
come forward to address our nation’s security weaknesses; to inform authorities
of security vulnerabilities in our intelligence agencies, at nuclear power
plants and weapon facilities, in airports, and at our nation’s borders and
ports; to uncover government waste, fraud, abuse, and in some cases criminal
conduct. The NSWBC is dedicated to aiding national security whistleblowers
through a variety of methods, including advocacy of governmental and legal
reform, educating the public concerning whistleblowing activity, provision of
comfort and fellowship to national security whistleblowers suffering
retaliation and other harms, and working with other public interest
organizations to affect goals defined in the NSWBC mission statement. For
more on NSWBC visit www.nswbc.org
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© Copyright 2006, National Security Whistleblowers Coalition. Information in this release may be freely
distributed and published provided that all such distributions make appropriate
attribution to the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition.