The Department of Defense had refused to produce documents in response to a similar request made in March.  That request stemmed from complaints to members of Congress about the Navy's refusal to disclose documents needed for scientific studies of the contamination at the base.

"Congressional offices had received complaints that the Navy was improperly citing exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act to withhold documents related to the contamination," Grassley said, expressing frustration that the Obama administration has not been more forthcoming despite memos issued by the President and pledges to be the "most transparent administration ever."

The drinking water contamination that took place over several decades at the base was one of the worst environmental disasters in American history.  A registry exists for individuals who lived or worked at the base before 1987 to receive notifications about the contamination.  It includes the names of 1,121 Iowans.  It is estimated that more than 750,000 people may have been exposed to hazardous chemicals at the base.

Grassley cosponsored the Caring for Camp Lejeune Veterans Act, which was introduced by Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina in 2011.  A version of the bill passed the Senate yesterday with unanimous approval.  The legislation would help to provide medical treatment and care for service members and their families who lived at the camp and were injured by this chemical contamination.

Floor Statement of U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley

Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary

Water Contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Mr. President,

I'm pleased that Chairman Leahy and I were able to help with the effort to look at the issue of water contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.  In particular, in June, we sent a letter to the Department of Defense, which has resulted in it producing more than 8,500 documents to the Judiciary Committee.

I know that Senator Burr and others have been leaders with the effort to look into the situation at Camp Lejeune.

Every member of the Senate should be aware of the situation at Camp Lejeune.

The drinking water contamination that took place over several decades at the base was one of the worst environmental disasters in American history.

Camp Lejeune was designated a Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1988 after inspections confirmed contamination of the ground water due to the migration of hazardous chemicals from outside the base and inadequate procedures to contain and dispose of hazardous chemicals on the base.

Residents of every State, who previously lived or worked at the base, have been impacted by the contamination.

Indeed, more than 180,000 current and former members of the armed services and employees at the base have signed up for the Camp Lejeune Historic Drinking Water Registry.  By registering, individuals who lived or worked at the base before 1987 receive notifications about the contamination.

The Camp Lejeune registry includes residents from all 50 States.  1,121 Iowans are among them.  It's estimated that more than 750,000 people may have been exposed to hazardous chemicals at the base.

The numbers don't fully reflect the impact of the disaster at the base.  There are real people behind those numbers.

In March, as part of the Judiciary Committee's annual oversight hearing on the Freedom of Information Act, we heard the testimony of retired Marine Master Sergeant Jerry Ensminger.  He was stationed at Camp Lejeune with his family and told us of the battle his daughter, Janey, fought with leukemia for two-and-a-half years, before she died at the age of nine.  He also told us of the difficulties that he and others were having getting information from the Department of Defense.

The men and women of the armed services protect us every day.  We should never take them or the sacrifices that they and their families make for granted.

We in Congress have an obligation to do everything that we can to support them in their mission.

That's why I'm a cosponsor of the Caring for Camp Lejeune Veterans Act, which was introduced by Senator Burr in 2011.  That bill, a version of which passed by unanimous consent in the Senate yesterday, will help to provide medical treatment and care for service members and their families, who lived at the camp and were injured by the chemical contamination.

Unfortunately, the Department of Defense has not been forthcoming with information about the contamination at Camp Lejeune.

That's troubling, especially coming from the administration that proclaims itself to be the "most transparent administration ever."

As we all recall, on his first full day in office, President Obama declared openness and transparency to be touchstones of his administration, and ordered agencies to make it easier for the public to get information about the government.

Specifically, he issued two memoranda written in grand language and purportedly designed to usher in a "new era of open government."

Based on my experience in trying to pry information out of the Executive Branch and based on investigations I've conducted, and inquiries by the media, I'm disappointed to report that President Obama's statements in memos about transparency are not being put into practice.

There's a complete disconnect between the President's grand pronouncements about transparency and the actions of his political appointees.

The situation with the Camp Lejeune documents is just another example of that disconnect.  The documents should have been produced long ago.

The recent letter that Chairman Leahy and I sent from the Judiciary Committee had to be sent because the Defense Department refused to produce documents in response to a March letter signed by six senators and three members of the House of Representatives.  Chairman Leahy and I had also signed that March letter.

The March letter had to be sent because of complaints that Congressional offices had received about the Navy's refusal to disclose documents needed for scientific studies of the contamination at Camp Lejeune.  It was also needed because of claims that the Navy is improperly citing exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act to withhold documents related to the contamination.

So, while I'm pleased that there was a bipartisan effort to obtain these documents, I'm disappointed by the stonewalling and by the hurdles that were put up by the administration.

Transparency and open government must be more than just pleasant sounding words found in memos.  They are essential to the functioning of a democratic government.

Transparency is about basic good government and accountability–not party politics or ideology.

Throughout my career I have actively conducted oversight of the Executive Branch regardless of who controls the Congress or the White House.

I'll continue doing what I can to hold this administration's feet to the fire with Camp Lejeune and where ever else I find stonewalling and secrecy.

Thank you.  I yield the floor.

(DES MOINES) - The governor's office today announced that the Iowa Teacher and Principal Leadership Symposium next month is sold out.

In May, Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds joined Education Director Jason Glass to announce they would host the Iowa Teacher and Principal Leadership Symposium on Friday, Aug. 3, at Drake University in Des Moines.

Branstad said he and Reynolds are holding the symposium to focus on how to organize schools to treat teachers as instructional leaders, with clearly defined roles and responsibilities.

Symposium speakers and panelists will share their thinking about shared principal and teacher leadership.  We'll hear about why this matters, how it's being done in this state and country, and how top-performing school systems around the globe approach this issue.

Symposium registration was open to the public, including educators, school board members, business leaders, parents and legislators. More than 700 Iowans are expected to attend the all-day conference.

"Teacher leadership will be at the heart of our 2013 legislative package because it is critical to give students the knowledge and skills they need to be well prepared," said Branstad.

"We also recognize that growing expectations for students place even more demands upon teachers, without always providing teachers the support needed to meet those demands," said Reynolds. "Stronger, shared principal and teacher leadership can help schools do that more effectively."

Branstad and Reynolds stressed that the symposium is about ending the outdated practice of teachers working largely in isolation in their classrooms and moving toward greater collaboration to help students learn more. Some Iowa schools have already set off in this direction, and two of them will be on hand at the August 3 symposium: Des Moines and Cedar Rapids.

Branstad and Reynolds note that their October 2011 education blueprint included a four-tier teacher leadership and compensation structure, with master, mentor, career and apprentice teachers. When they took the blueprint out on the road to town-hall meetings across the state, Iowans raised good questions about it would be put into operation.

So the decision was made to study the issue further, and make recommendations to the 2013 Legislature.

In February, Iowa Department of Education Director Jason Glass announced the members of a new Iowa Teacher Leadership and Compensation Taskforce, which is meeting monthly. Its report is due Oct. 15.

"The status quo is not serving our children well. We have to set the bar higher," said Reynolds.

Here are just a few statistics that drive that home:

• Nearly 23 percent of Iowa third-graders don't read proficiently on state tests.
• Just 33 percent of Iowa fourth-graders read at proficient or advanced levels on the exam known as the nation's report card.
• In math, just 34 percent of Iowa eighth-graders are proficient or advanced on that exam.
• Only 35 percent of Iowa eighth-graders are proficient or advanced in science.

"Our children deserve better," said Reynolds. "A stronger, shared principal and teacher leadership model can help us make faster progress toward restoring Iowa schools to best in the nation, and giving all students a globally competitive education."

To learn more about the symposium, go to: https://educationleadership.iowa.gov/

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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Before we turn to the agenda, I want to say a few words about yesterday's hearing on forensics and a letter I sent to the Attorney General on Tuesday.  We heard from experts yesterday about the current state of forensic science in the courts.  One of the topics of discussion was the recent reports by The Washington Post regarding "sloppy" and "unreliable" work at the FBI crime lab that may have led to innocent people being convicted.

The Post also detailed a 2004 review conducted by the Justice Department to identify cases where flawed work by the FBI crime lab may have been involved.  By all accounts, that review was poorly done and it appears that defense attorneys may not have been notified about cases where problems existed.

These are stunning developments given my work with Dr. Frederic Whitehurst, a former FBI Agent who blew the whistle on problems with the FBI Crime lab in the 1990s.  Dr. Whitehurst's disclosures came at a great cost to him personally as he faced retaliation from the FBI.  However, his disclosures led to an Inspector General report that led to many reforms that have strengthened the FBI crime lab.

Given the recent reports by The Washington Post, Chairman Leahy and I sent a letter on May 21 seeking information from the FBI Director.  Unfortunately, that letter has gone unanswered for over 60 days.

So, on Tuesday, prior to the hearing, I sent a new letter to the Attorney General seeking information about the 2004 review and problems with notifying defendants.  Hopefully, the Attorney General will respond to this letter faster than the FBI has to the letter the Chairman and I sent back in May.

Given this committee's past work with whistleblowers like Dr. Whitehurst and the discussion on improving forensic science, the Justice Department and FBI should provide us answers immediately.

Turning to the Committee's agenda, on S.285, the private relief bill sponsored by Senator Levin, I will offer an amendment.  If that amendment is adopted, our side would be willing to voice vote the bill and report it out.

With regard to S.3276, the FAA Sunsets Extension Act, we're prepared to vote on a straight extension of the law today.  This is an important bill that reauthorizes the FISA Amendments Act, a program vital to our national security.

This bill was reported out of the Intelligence Committee without amendment extending the program through 2017.  The House Judiciary Committee and House Intelligence Committee have both reported a similar bill without amendment.

The Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence have written to us stating that this reauthorization is "the highest legislative priority for the Intelligence Community" this congress.  Further, they added, "Our first priority, however, is reauthorization of these authorities in their current form.  We look forward to working with you to ensure the speedy enactment of legislation reauthorizing Title VII, without amendment, to avoid any interruption in our use of these authorities to protect the American people."

I agree with the Administration, the House Judiciary Committee, and the House and Senate Intelligence Committees that we should reauthorize this program as soon as possible without amendment.

However, the Chairman has a substitute amendment opening the bill to amendment, so our side will have some amendments to offer as well.

This debate is similar to last year's reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act.  There the Administration sought a clean extension given the urgent need for the tools.  However, this committee made unnecessary changes to the law that held up passage of it on the floor.

Here, we have a bill proposed by the Administration simply reauthorizing the tools without amendment that passed by the Intelligence Committee without amendment, and now some are seeking to make changes.

I understand that the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee is prepared to support the changes the Chairman is proposing.  I'm not sure what's changed in the eyes of the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee since she wrote to members on June 19, 2012, supporting her bill without amendment.

In that letter, she stated, "The Select Committee on Intelligence has conducted careful oversight of Title VII."  She then informed us that the Intelligence Committee proposed extending the sunset to June 2017, in accordance with the Administration proposal.  Now, I'm told she supports a 2015 sunset.  This is problematic as the timing will line up the foreign surveillance provisions of the FAA Amendments Act with the domestic provisions of the PATRIOT Act.

Undoubtedly, this will cause confusion and potentially jeopardize reauthorization of two critical national security programs.

So, we're prepared to address this bill today, along with some other important national security matters that should be voted on in Committee.