The first item on our agenda today is the subpoenas to the Department of Justice regarding the FALN clemency matter. I think it is essential that we send a clear, unequivocable, and bi-partisan message to the Justice Department that we will not tolerate oversight-related foot-dragging. The Department’s track record has not been good in this area and I raised this with the Attorney General again last night.

Subpoenas are a serious step, but a proper one given the history with this Justice Department. It is important to our institutional interests and our authority as one of the three co-equal branches of government -- especially as the branch which most directly expresses the voices of the American people -- to insist upon cooperation from the agencies we oversee.

Through a lot of hard work, in consultation with our distinguished Ranking Member, I think we have come up with a proposal that protects our institutional interests, while at the same time provides an efficient, expeditious way to get more information more quickly.

Quickly summarized, the proposal is this. The Committee will vote to issue subpoenas. More specifically, we will vote to authorize me, as Chairman, in consultation with Senator Leahy, to issue subpoenas to the Deputy Attorney General and the Pardon Attorney if any of the following three conditions are not met:

1) That the Department of Justice produce to the Committee no later than Thursday, September 30, 1999, at 5:00 p.m., a privilege log which shall: (a) identify any and all documents within the scope of the attached subpoenas to which the Justice Department asserts a privilege, (b) set forth the date, type, addressee, author, general subject matter, and circulation of the document, and (c) state exactly what privilege is being asserted in sufficient detail to allow us to assess the validity of the claim of privilege;

2) That the Justice Department produce to the Committee no later than Thursday, September 30, 1999, at 5:00 p.m., any and all documents within the scope of the subpoenas attached hereto to which no privilege is asserted; and

3) That Deputy Attorney General Holder and the Pardon Attorney, Roger Adams, appear before the Committee no later than Friday, October 8, 1999, at 10:00 a.m., and give testimony regarding (1) the procedure of the Department of Justice and the Office of Pardon Attorney for reviewing petitions for clemency and making recommendations to the President on petitions for clemency; (2) the efforts made by the Department of Justice and the Office of Pardon Attorney to comply with the above document requests; and (3) testify about the non-privileged documents produced to the Committee.

When Senator Leahy and I met with the Attorney General last night, she expressed a hope and a desire to agree to a process wherein documents would be provided to the Committee without the force of a subpoena. The concern I have is that we have been down this road before with the Justice Department, and the spirit of cooperation has faded as the controversy fell from the front pages of the newspapers. This proposal means that the Justice Department will have to meet its commitments to the Committee and do so in a timely manner. If not, the subpoenas will be served.

This proposal gives the Attorney General a mechanism to produce information, without the issuance of the subpoenas, but with firm deadlines and parameters for her cooperation. I believe this process also demonstrates a proper respect for legitimate privilege issues -- but with accountability. The Justice Department is obligated to identify any document it believes is privileged and the basis of that privilege. In that way, we will we be able to assess whether the assertion of the particular privilege at issue is appropriate and justified.

This is a good solution that sets prompt deadlines to keep this process moving while respecting legitimate areas of executive privilege. I urge you to vote in favor of it.

I would like to thank my good friend, and distinguished colleague from Vermont, for his hard work and collaboration in developing this proposal. I would be happy to yield for any comments he would like to make.

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