Summary
Primary-source transcript of the Senate floor colloquy between Majority Leader chuck-schumer (D-NY) and Sen. mike-rounds (R-SD) on the uap-disclosure-act (UAPDA) and its treatment in the FY2024 NDAA conference. Issued as a press release by Senate Democratic Leadership. In a coordinated bipartisan exchange, Schumer and Rounds defended the UAPDA and its proposed UAP Records Review Board (UAP RRB), modeled explicitly on the 1992 JFK Assassination Records Collection Act. They acknowledged that the FY2024 NDAA conference had retained only a narrowed National Archives records-collection mandate while rejecting the centerpiece RRB and the requirement that the government recover UAP material or biological remains held by private entities. Schumer framed the rejection as enabling “the same entities that have blocked and obfuscated” disclosure to keep controlling it, invoked the late Sen. harry-reid as a mentor, and pledged with Rounds to “keep working” toward fuller transparency. This is the canonical 2023 statement referenced by src-uap-transparency-stalls-2025-12 when describing the senators’ subsequent “muted” posture.
Key Claims
- The U.S. government has “gathered a great deal of information about UAPs over many decades” and refused to share it, breeding mistrust (Schumer).
- “Multiple credible sources” have told Schumer that UAP information has been withheld from Congress, in violation of legal notification requirements to the Gang of Eight, defense committees, and intelligence committees.
- The UAPDA was “closely modeled on the JFK Records Act” (Rounds); the proposed review board was “closely modeled on the review board established in the JFK Assassination Records Act of 1992.”
- FY2024 NDAA conference outcome (Schumer): for the first time, the National Archives will gather UAP records government-wide with a legal mandate to release them where appropriate — described as a “major win” and “strong foundation.”
- Conference rejected (Rounds): (1) a presidentially-appointed, Senate-confirmed citizen review board controlling release timing; and (2) a requirement that the government recover UAP material or biological remains “provided to private entities in the past and thereby hidden from Congress.”
- Schumer characterizes the loss as leaving declassification “largely up to the same entities that have blocked and obfuscated their disclosure for decades.”
- Schumer publicly attributes his UAP-transparency commitment to the influence of late Sen. harry-reid.
- Rounds: information has been “collected by more than just the Department of Defense, but by other agencies of the federal government as well.”
Notable Quotes
“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 breeds mistrust.” — chuck-schumer
“We have also been notified by multiple credible sources that information on UAPs has also been withheld from Congress, which if true is a violation of laws requiring full notification to the legislative branch.” — chuck-schumer
“The UAP Disclosure Act was closely modeled on the JFK Records Act.” — mike-rounds
“Now it means that declassification of UAP records will be largely up to the same entities that have blocked and obfuscated their disclosure for decades.” — chuck-schumer
“There is, we believe, information and data that has been collected by more than just the Department of Defense, but by other agencies of the federal government as well.” — mike-rounds
“I would like to acknowledge my dear friend, the late Harry Reid, a mentor, who cared about this issue a great deal.” — chuck-schumer