Jon Kyl: “I rise to talk to my colleagues about my amendment No. 866 to protect the classified information handled by Congress.…”

“I rise to talk to my colleagues about my amendment No. 866 to protect the classified information handled by Congress. Having served on the Intelligence Committee for 8 years, no one needs to tell me how important it is for Congress to have the information it needs to perform oversight of the intelligence community. However, we must be mindful that much of this information could do great damage to our national security. This bill includes what I believe are misguided provisions related to clandestine prisons, the Detainee Treatment Act, and the enormous expansion of access to highly sensitive national security information. The bill would declassify information about the intelligence budget, dramatically expand the number of members and staff with access to the most sensitive national security information our government holds, and provide details of the interrogation techniques used by our military and intelligence community. Can anyone imagine what would happen if al-Qaida became privy to the interrogation techniques our military and intelligence community use? Does anyone think al-Qaida wouldn't adapt and train its terrorists accordingly? I believe disseminating this information is a mistake. But, if we are going to disseminate it, we must put in place a mechanism to ensure this sensitive information does not get into the hands of our enemies.”