Sylvester Turner: “When it comes to the records of a President, we need to ensure that the public's interest remains paramount. As I noted…”

“When it comes to the records of a President, we need to ensure that the public's interest remains paramount. As I noted in the subcommittee, it is important that we distinguish the Nation's interest from that of a former President's interest. We need to achieve that critical balance between the President's constitutional privilege and the public's right to know. The bill is one step toward preserving and protecting the constitutional prerogatives of Presidents while preserving public access to important and historic Presidential records. The legislation before us established a process whereby incumbent and former Presidents could, within specified time limits, review records prior to their release and determine whether to assert constitutional privilege claims against release of the records. This legislation is identical to H.R. 4187, introduced in the 107th Congress and approved by the committee under the leadership of the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton). I want to commend him for his work in this area. In addition, I want to highlight an amendment which was approved by the full committee. This provision will close a loophole in the Presidential Records Act which would have allowed individuals previously convicted of a crime relating to the mishandling of Archives records to continue to have special access to Presidential records.”