{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/leahy-and-cornyn-press-for-cia-to-retain-email-records", "Leahy & Cornyn Press For CIA To Retain Email Records", "2014-12-01", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "VT", "Patrick Leahy", "L000174", "www.leahy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.01.14\n\t\t\t Leahy & Cornyn Press For CIA To Retain Email Records \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n        \n\t\t\t\t In Letter To National Archivist, Senators Call Email Access \u201cA Piece Of American History\u201d\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t WASHINGTON (Monday, December 1, 2014) \u2013Responding to reports that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is seeking to adopt a new email retention policy that would allow the agency to purge thousands of emails from nearly all of its employees, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) are urging the archivist of the United States to reject the proposal that undermines oversight of the agency.\r\n\u201cWe are concerned that this policy would undermine the ability of citizens to understand how their government works and hold it accountable,\u201d Leahy and Cornyn wrote in a letter to David Ferriero, the Archivist of the United States.\u00a0 \u201cIn an era when critically important government activities and decisions are conducted via email, a plan to delete the majority of emails at any agency should raise great concern.\u201d\r\nThe National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) sets recordkeeping policies for federal agencies. The CIA is seeking approval with the independent agency to overhaul its email policy to allow all employees and contractors to purge their emails three years after they leave the agency, while the email accounts of the agency\u2019s top officials would become permanent documents. In their letter, Leahy and Cornyn noted that \u201cDue to the nature of the CIA\u2019s work, it is particularly important to evaluate carefully any changes to CIA recordkeeping policies.\u201d\r\n\u201cWe urge you to take these considerations into account as you consider whether to approve the new retention schedule for CIA employee email,\u201d the Senators wrote.\u00a0 \u201cTo lose permanent access to the email of every CIA employee, except the 22 most senior officials at the agency is to lose access to a piece of American history.\u201d\r\nLeahy and Cornyn have long partnered on open government issues, and together have authored several bipartisan bills to make improvements to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).\u00a0 Last month, the Judiciary Committee unanimously approved their FOIA Improvement Act that would require Federal agencies to adopt a \u201cPresumption of Openness\u201d when considering the release of government information under FOIA.\r\nA copy of the Leahy-Cornyn letter to the national archivist can be found online and below.\r\n#####\r\nDecember 1, 2014\r\nThe Honorable David Ferriero\r\nArchivist of the United States\r\nThe National Archives and Records Administration   8601 Adelphi Road   College Park, MD 20740-6001\r\nDear Mr. Ferriero:\r\nWe write to express concern about a recent proposal to allow the destruction of the emails of most Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employees three years after they leave CIA employment, \u201cor when no longer needed, whichever is sooner.\u201d\u00a0 We understand that this policy would apply to all CIA employees except the 22 most senior officials of the agency.\r\nTransparency and accountability are critical to a functioning democracy.\u00a0 We have worked together for years to improve the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) with the goal of making our government more open and transparent.\u00a0 We are concerned that this policy would undermine the ability of citizens to understand how their government works and hold it accountable.\u00a0 In an era when critically important government activities and decisions are conducted via email, a plan to delete the majority of emails at any agency should raise great concern.\r\nDue to the nature of the CIA\u2019s work, it is particularly important to evaluate carefully any changes to CIA recordkeeping policies.\u00a0 Many CIA activities are not declassified for years or even decades.\u00a0 Therefore, historians and other researchers, who rely on FOIA requests to learn about CIA programs and understand how the CIA\u2019s activities fit into the larger picture of U.S. foreign affairs, may not have any basis to make FOIA requests until decades after the activities at issue occurred.\u00a0 That is all the more reason why it is so important to maintain a permanent, full accounting of CIA activities.\u00a0\r\nWe also know that CIA personnel have in some instances deliberately destroyed records or other materials, suggesting that the National Archives must be particularly cautious in approving any policy permitting permanent destruction of CIA records.\u00a0 Further, this new policy could undermine congressional oversight efforts, as pointed out by the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in their letter dated November 17, 2014.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\r\nWe urge you to take these considerations into account as you consider whether to approve the new retention schedule for CIA employee email.\u00a0 To lose permanent access to the email of every CIA employee, except the 22 most senior officials at the agency, is to lose access to a piece of American history.\u00a0 Thank you for your consideration.\r\nSincerely, PATRICK LEAHY\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 JOHN CORNYN\r\nUnited States Senator\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 United States Senator\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t Press Contact \n\t\t\t\tPress Contact  David Carle: 202-224-3693\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\t\n\t\n\t\n  \n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 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": ["http://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/leahy-and-cornyn-press-for-cia-to-retain-email-records"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7721368931233883, "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"}