This bill requires the Department of State to make certain information regarding the 2021 withdrawal of U.S. personnel from Afghanistan available to Congress and to the public.
Specifically, the State Department must provide Congress with the July 13, 2021, dissent channel cable regarding the likely consequences of a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the official State Department response to the cable. (The dissent channel is a tool that foreign service officers may use to communicate alternative or dissenting views about foreign policy matters with senior State Department officials. )
The unredacted cable and official response must be provided to Congress within five days of the bill's enactment, except that the names of the cable signatories may be redacted.
The bill also requires the State Department to complete a declassification review of (1) the dissent channel cable and official response, and (2) the after-action review developed with respect to the Afghanistan withdrawal. After determining what information may be declassified, the State Department must publish such information online within 60 days of the bill's enactment.
