THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON July 28, 1998 Mr. Mark Paoletta Majority Staff Counsel Committee on Commerce United States House of Representatives Room 2125, Rayburn House Office Building Dear Mark: As we agreed during our meeting on Friday, July 24, 1998, I am writing to set forth our views regarding public disclosure of the documents identified on the index of April 24, 1998, and provided to the Committee on June 11, 1998. Chairman Schaefer requested economic materials that Dr. Yellen relied on in the preparation of her testimony. As one might expect, documents responsive to that request reflect internal deliberations of the Executive Branch, and in particular, of the President's economic advisers. In an effort to accommodate the Committee's oversight needs while preserving the President's interest in the confidentiality of Executive Branch deliberations, we made these documents available to the Committee with the specific admonition that we expected them to remain confidential. We believe that public disclosure of these materials would set an unfortunate precedent that could chill the free flow of internal discussions essential to effective Executive decision making. As we discussed, such disclosure is not necessary for purposes of Congressional oversight. In addition, disclosure of some of these documents would not be helpful to the position of the United States in ongoing international negotiations. The documents reveal Administration assessments of the costs of options that are the topic of ongoing negotiations in international fora. Specifically, we are referring to documents 1,3 4, 5, 17, 18, and 19 on the April 24 index. We prefer that you not release these documents. proceed. We appreciate your consideration of our views. Please let us know how you intend to Sincerely, Wert N. Winer Robert N. Weiner Office of Counsel to the President cc: Dennis Fitzgibbons We are writing to inform you of the decision to include in the March 4, 1998 printed hearing record the economic analysis you recently provided to the Committee concerning the potential costs of the Kyoto Protocol to the US economy. As you know, at the March 4 hearing, Chairman Schaefer and Ranking Member Dingell requested that you provide these documents to the Committee, and Mr. Dingell requested that these documents be included in the hearing record. After reviewing the document entitled "The Kyoto Protocol and the President's Policies to Address Climate Change Administration Economic Analysis" and considering the letter from Mr. Robert Weiner, Senior Counsel, Office of Counsel to the President regarding release of the documents, we believe that failing to include these documents in the printed hearing record would hinder the ability of the Committee to carry out its oversight responsibilities and would leave stakeholders and the public without complete information regarding the range of possible costs of implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. The potentially enormous impact of these policies to the United States economy, the Administration's less than forthcoming dealings with Congress on this matter, and the nature of the documents, underscore the need for disclosure as part of our oversight efforts, and outweigh any arguments to keep these documents hidden from public scrutiny. You noted at the July 15, 1997 hearing, "when a decision has been arrived at, it is incumbent on us to explain how we arrived at that decision and why we regard it as a sensible decision. I feel we have to be prepared to explain that." We agree If the Administration is going to present certain economic conclusions as justification for its policies, then it is inappropriate for the Administration to shield the assumptions used to reach those economic conclusions Thank you for your cooperation on this matter. We also will enter into the printed hearing record a copy of this letter. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Catherine Van Way or Mark Paoletta of the Majority Staff at 225-2927 or Dennis Fitzgibbons or Sue Sheridan of the Minority staff at 225-3641. |