Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - July 29, 2005)
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By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. LIEBERMAN):
S. 1558. A bill to amend the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to protect family members of filers from disclosing sensitive information in a public filing and extend the public filing requirement for 5 years; to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation that would preserve an important means of protecting the safety of those who work in the Federal judiciary system.
This legislation, which I am pleased to sponsor with my distinguished colleague, Senator LIEBERMAN, pertains to information on Federal financial disclosure forms.
This legislation would amend the Ethics in Government Act to extend for five years the authority to redact financial disclosure statements filed by judges, and other officers and employees of the Federal judiciary. This redaction occurs after a finding is made by the Judicial Conference, in consultation with the United States Marshals Service, that revealing personal and sensitive information could endanger the filer. In such cases, this legislation would allow redactions of information that could put the filer or his or her family at risk.
In 1988, Congress recognized the potential for threats against individual judges. As a result, Congress authorized the judicial branch to redact, when circumstances require, certain information from individual financial disclosure reports before they are released to the public. The redaction provision was set to expire at the end of 2001, but Congress extended the redaction authority for an additional four years. The current authority expires at the end of this year.
The five-year extension in this legislation will help Congress ensure that the Judicial Conference carries out the authority in a manner that achieves the appropriate balance between safety measures and public disclosure. Given recent incidents of violence against judges and their families, the inclusion of threats to the filer's family is necessary to provide security and peace of mind.
The record shows that this redaction authority has been used sparingly and wisely. In its report to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the Judicial Conference reported that, of the 3,942 Federal judiciary employees required to file financial disclosure reports in 2004, only 177 reports were partially redacted before release.
For 40 judges, the approved redaction requests were based on specific threats such as high-threat trials, ongoing protective investigations, identify theft, and continuing threats from criminal defendants and disgruntled civil litigants. For 137 judges, the approved redaction requests were based on general threats and the disclosure of a family member's unsecured place of work, the judge's regular presence at an unsecured location, or information that would reveal the residence of the judge or members of the judge's family.
In response to a request by our Committee, the Government Accountability Office reviewed redaction requests from 1999 through 2002. GAO found that less than 10 percent of annual judicial filers requested any type of redaction.
In each instance where a report was redacted in its entirety, the determination was made that the judge who filed the report was subject to a specific, active security threat. Redactions of information identifying assets, gifts, reimbursements or creditor listings were allowed in only a very limited number of cases, and then only until the specifically identified threat ceased. According to the Judicial Conference, the most frequent redaction requests now relate to information that would reveal where a judge or a member of the judge's family can regularly be found.
A fair and impartial judiciary requires a safe and secure environment. This legislation will help ensure the judicial branch has procedures in place to protect personal information while ensuring the public retains its right to access to the annual disclosure reports. I look forward to working with my colleagues on this important legislation.
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