{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=c2c97439-b335-4025-9392-b97346378936", "Portman, Tester Investigate National Security Workforce", "2013-11-20", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "OH", "Rob Portman", "P000449", "www.portman.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) today took on the out-of-date and inadequate way the federal government designates certain positions as national security \u2018sensitive\u2019 or that require a security clearance.\r\nPortman and Tester held their second hearing in two days in their Governmental Affairs subcommittee that oversees the federal workforce.\u00a0 Today\u2019s hearing examined whether the arbitrary manner in which government agencies designate \u2018sensitive\u2019 positions hurts federal workers and burdens taxpayers.\r\nAt the conclusion of the hearing, Portman and Tester announced plans to introduce legislation to improve the security clearance process by requiring clearer, government-wide rules designating \u2018sensitive\u2019 positions as well as regular policy reviews.\u00a0 The Senators\u2019 legislation will also hold individuals who intentionally compromise the integrity of a background investigation more accountable.\r\n\u201cI think we can all acknowledge that there is a significant need for reform with regard to the security clearance process,\u201d said Portman. \u201cWe must get our arms around the amount of information the government is classifying and tasks that are deemed sensitive for national security. This relates directly to the demands placed on our clearance process.\u201d\r\n\u201cThe lack of clear guidance has led us down a path to where we now have almost five million Americans with security clearances and access to our nation\u2019s most sensitive information and secure facilities,\u201d Tester said after hearing from witnesses.\u00a0 \u201cThere is a real need for such guidance and to improve the security clearance process.\u201d\r\nThe hearing also examined concerns about a recent court case \u2013 Kaplan v. Conyers \u2013 that would allow the federal government to make personnel decisions regarding \u2018sensitive\u2019 positions while denying federal employees the right to appeal those decisions.\u00a0\r\nToday\u2019s hearing brings more attention to consequences of the U.S. Court of Appeals decision.\u00a0 In September, the Senators told the Director of National Intelligence and the Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management that the decision not to finalize the rule \u2018until the matter has been fully and publicly aired.\u2019\r\nPortman and Tester are the Ranking Member and Chairman on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Oversight Subcommittee.\u00a0 They previously tackled the security clearance issue in June and recently passed legislation to start reforming the clearance process.\r\nVideo of Portman and Tester\u2019s hearing from today is available online here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=c2c97439-b335-4025-9392-b97346378936"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.2554188035428524, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}