March 20, 1973
Page 8713
ANNOUNCEMENT OF HEARINGS ON EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE AND GOVERNMENT SECRECY
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, beginning April 10, 11, and 12, the Subcommittee on Separation of Powers of the Committee on the Judiciary and the Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations of the Committee on Government Operations, with the participation of the Subcommittee on Administrative Practice and Procedure of the Committee on the Judiciary, will hold a number of days of hearings on Executive privilege and Government secrecy.
I ask unanimous consent that a news release announcing these hearings and containing a joint statement by the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. ERVIN) and myself on their purpose be printed in the RECORD at this point.
There being no objection, the news release was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
ERVIN, MUSKIE, KENNEDY SUBCOMMITTEES JOIN FOR EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE, SECRECY HEARINGS
Senators Sam J. Ervin, Jr., and Edmund S. Muskie announced today that their two subcommittees will hold joint hearings, beginning April 10, 11, and 12, on Executive Privilege and Government Secrecy.
The joint hearings will be conducted by the Judiciary Subcommittee on Separation of Powers, chaired by Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr., D-N.C., and the Government Operations Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations, chaired by Senator Edmund S. Muskie, D-Maine, with the participation of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Practice and Procedure, chaired by Senator Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.
Announcing the beginning of the joint hearings, Senator Ervin and Senator Muskie issued the following joint statement: "Our subcommittees have before them measures to deal with an increasingly grave Constitutional dispute, the conflict between the President and the Congress and between the government and the ordinary citizen over access to information all of us should be sharing if our democracy is to function as it should. These hearings, initiated at the specific request of the Senate leadership, will give us and the country an opportunity to weigh the claims that are now in conflict.
"The Executive asserts an unrestricted 'right' to deny Congress and the public the testimony of Presidential advisers past and present, arguing that their views, to be developed and presented with the necessary candor, require eternal privilege. The Congress, concerned with developing the best-informed criteria for the national policy decisions the Constitution gives it to make, cannot do with less than full access to the testimony and documentation essential to the wise performance of its duty. The public, the ultimate referee of our decisions and those of the President, must have the knowledge on which to base its judgments.
"Our two subcommittees will be looking at legislative proposals which will restore to Congress its rightful role in the Separation of Powers doctrine. The time has come when the Congress must have the will to stop usurpations of its power by the Executive Branch of government. We feel that these hearings will be a step in that direction.
"We are fortunate in having the cooperation of Senator Kennedy and the Subcommittee on Administrative Practice and Procedure in this vital inquiry. We look forward to receiving the guidance of other interested members of the Senate and to undertaking the task they have given us."
The joint hearings are a continuation and extension of hearings begun in the 92nd Congress by Senator Ervin's Subcommittee on Separation of Powers, "Executive Privilege: The Withholding of Information by the Executive." The three subcommittees will be considering two bills on executive privilege and one bill to amend the 1967 Freedom of Information Act. The measures are S. 858, introduced by Senator J. William Fulbright (D-Arkansas), Senate Joint Resolution 72, introduced by Senator Ervin, and S. 1142, introduced by Senator Muskie. Other legislative proposals affecting Congressional and public access to official information are also expected to be introduced before the hearings open.
The opening three days of testimony will be held in the Judiciary Committee hearing room 2228, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, beginning at 10 o'clock each morning, April 10, 11, and 12.