,i  #aaeth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #gjj  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of   
,,representatives  ,january #bd1        
#bjag,mrs4 ,walorski introduced the     
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,oversight and        
,government ,reform  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
amend section #eeb of title #e1 ,united 
,states ,code1 to apply the requirements
 of the ,freedom of ,information ,act to
 the ,national ,security ,council1 and  
for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the          
,transparency in ,national ,security    
,act of #bjag4  #b4 ,findings ,the      
,congress finds the following3  7#a7    
,the ,national ,security ,council       
7,,nsc7 is mandated by statute to advise
 the ,president with respect to the     
integration of domestic1 foreign1 and   
military policies relating to the       
national security and to perform such   
other functions as the ,president may   
direct4  7#b7 ,the ,,nsc maintained an  
active ,freedom of ,information ,act    

7,,foia7 program and responded to       
requests under ,presidents ,ford1       
,carter1 ,reagan1 and ,george ,h4,w4    
,bush4  7#c7 ,the #aiif case that       
eliminated the ,,foia requirement for   
the ,,nsc1 ,armstrong v4 ,executive     
,office of the ,president1 concluded    
that the ,,nsc does not exercise        
sufficiently independent authority4     
7#d7 ,in the #bj years since the        
,armstrong case1 former ,secretaries and
 ,cabinet officials1 including ,leon    
,panetta and ,robert ,gates1 have spoken
 out concerning the increasing          
centralization of power at the ,white   
,house1 and the ,,nsc in particular4    
7#e7 ,the ,obama ,administration issued 
,presidential ,policy ,directive #a on  
,february #ac1 #bjji1 which established 
the roles and responsibilities for the  
,,nsc and established the ,national     
,security ,advisor as the principal     
advisor to the ,president4  7#f7 ,the   
,,nsc has grown #bj times in size since 
the #aifjs and now has approximately    

#djj employees4  7#g7 ,the ,,nsc's      
growth has accelerated in the recent    
administrations1 the ,,nsc doubled in   
size to approximately #ajj under        
,president ,clinton1 the ,,nsc doubled  
in size again to approximately #bjj     
under ,president ,george ,w4 ,bush1 and 
has doubled again under ,president      
,obama to nearly #djj employees4  7#h7  
,successive administrations have shifted
 the ,,nsc's role beyond coordinating   
and advising as was intended by the     
,national ,security ,act of #aidg and   
now use the ,,nsc as the final approval 
for military operations as well4  7#i7  
,general ,norton ,schwartz1 former      
,chief of ,staff of the ,air ,force     
stated1 ,the ,,nsc should not be        
activists4 ,they should have a limited1 
if any role1 in execution44  7#aj7      
,brent ,scowcroft1 ,national ,security  
,advisor to ,presidents ,ford and       
,george ,h4,w4 ,bush stated1 ,the basic 
rule is that you shouldn't have so many 
people that you can duplicate the work  

of the departments44  7#aa7 ,the        
,presidential ,records ,act has been    
applied to the ,,nsc1 given the ,,nsc's 
growing autonomy and level of           
responsibilities1 the ,,nsc should      
instead follow the disclosure           
requirements of the ,,foia and be       
obligated to preserve its records in    
accordance with the ,federal ,records   
,act4  #c4 ,application of the ,freedom 
of ,information ,act to the ,national   
,security ,council ,section #eeb7;f77#a7
 of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code     
7commonly referred to as the ,freedom of
 ,information ,act71 is amended by      
inserting and the ,national ,security   
,council after the ,executive ,office of
 the ,president4  #d4 ,application ,the 
amendment made by section #c shall apply
 with respect to any record created by  
the ,national ,security ,council before1
 on1 or after the date of the enactment 
of this ,act4