Welcome to this week’s installment of The Intelligence Brief… following a recent clash on Capitol Hill over legislation that would work to release U.S. government records on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), the verdict is in. In our analysis, we’ll be looking at 1) the current state of the NDAA, and the UAP Disclosure Act of 2023, 2) what the two U.S. Senators who put forward the amendment recently said on the Senate floor, and 3) why they are disappointed in the current version of the bill that passed, but also 4) why the efforts for what the original bill sought to accomplish are far from being over.
“This is a major win for government transparency on UAPs. And it gives us a strong foundation for more action in the future.”
– Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY)
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Podcasts: In podcasts from The Debrief, this week on The Debrief Weekly Report, MJ Banias and Stephanie Gerk dive into the Devil’s Church cave in Finland, what may have killed the dinosaurs, and a new fusion reactor in Japan. Elsewhere, on the most recent episode of The Micah Hanks Program, we look at one of the most important military UAP cases of all time. You can get all of The Debrief’s podcasts by heading over to our Podcasts Page.
Video News: This week on Rebelliously Curious, Chrissy Newton is joined by Sarah Porter, the head of the Kyl Center for Water Policy at Arizona State University, who examines the advantages and disadvantages of plans to combat water shortages in the Southwest. Also, be sure to check out the latest episode of Ask Dr. Chance, and all the other great content from The Debrief on our official YouTube Channel.
With that all behind us, it’s now time to look at the latest developments involving the embattled UAP Disclosure Act, and what elected officials are saying in the aftermath of a historic showdown related to U.S. government transparency.
Earlier this year, a 64-page proposal to bring about the disclosure of information on what the U.S. government calls unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) was introduced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD). Appropriately named the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Act of 2023 (UAPDA), the proposal was based on an earlier law from 1992, which outlined the disclosure of records related to the JFK assassination in 1963.
Among the key components included in the legislation, introduced as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), has been a provision concerning eminent domain, whereby the U.S. government could effectively confiscate and appropriate any UAP technologies that are revealed to exist, as well as the creation of a presidential records review board similar to the one outlined in the 1992 law.
The Senate version of the bill was approved in an 86-11 vote over the summer, following a House vote that approved its version by a 219-210 vote. After each version of the bill was passed, the two chambers entered a formal conference process to negotiate between the two versions of the bill.
Unfortunately, efforts to eliminate or significantly change the wording in the UAP Disclosure Act arose amidst negotiations during the NDAA conference, which were apparently successful. The bill, albeit somewhat weakened, nonetheless made its way into the final version of the NDAA, which the Senate voted to pass on Wednesday, thereby authorizing $886 billion in national defense funding.
So where does that leave the UAP Disclosure Act? Here’s a blow-by-blow of what its co-sponsors had to say about the matter to their Senate colleagues earlier this week.
During a session earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and his co-sponsor Mike Rounds took to the floor to address the bill they introduced, as well as changes that were made to it.
Schumer, speaking on Wednesday, said that UAP “are of immense interest and curiosity to the American people,” adding that “with that curiosity comes the risk for confusion, disinformation and mistrust, especially if the government is independent isn’t prepared to be transparent.”
“The United States government has gathered a great deal of information about UAPs over many decades but has refused to share it with the American people. That is wrong. And additionally, it breeds mistrust.”
Referencing testimony provided from what he characterized as “multiple credible sources that information on UAPs has also been withheld from Congress,” Schumer went on to emphasize that the UAP Disclosure Act “offered a commonsense solution” modeled after the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act.
“It brings together I think, a notable parallel in the withholding of information that the that about items that are in the government’s possession, regarding in this particular case, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy,” Rounds added.
“That same approach by government, in terms of the possible withholding of information brings more questions and more attention to the issue of the assassination. We wanted to take that same approach with regard to how we could dispel myths misinformation, about UAPs,” Rounds said.
“It’s beyond disappointing that the House has refused to work with us on all the important elements of the UAP Disclosure Act during the NDAA conference,” Schumer said. “But nevertheless, we did make important progress. For the first for the first time the national archives will gather records from across the federal government on UAPs and have a legal mandate to release those records to the public if appropriate.”
