On the recordFebruary 2, 2023
when I joined the Senate Armed Services Committee in 2013, I encountered a new world of information. Along with that information came a new world of security measures. As a member of that committee, I reviewed document after document apprising me of critical national security developments. I also received strict orders not to share the classified information that I encountered. The American people expect Senators tasked with this solemn duty to take our responsibility seriously. Let me illustrate just how restrictive the rules are around these classified documents. When I receive classified information, I have to go to a secured place known as a SCIF to read the documents. There, a security manager and often a Capitol police officer will perform checks when I enter and when I exit. My background on Armed Services is one of the many reasons that I am shocked at the news that classified documents dating back to President Biden's time in the Senate were found sitting haphazardly in his garage this month. The President's personal attorney confirmed that some of those documents came from the Senate, and they have apparently been collecting dust next to the President's Corvette for years. It is also concerning that the President's documents were found, in the first place, by personal lawyers without the necessary clearances to view those classified materials. We have all learned recently that the executive branch has issues regulating documents.…
