Legislation was introduced last week to reform the security classification system and reduce overclassification.
The legislation would also prevent mishandling of classified information, promote better use of intelligence and enhance public trust.
The Classification Reform Act of 2023 was introduced by U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner of Virginia, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Jerry Moran of Kansas.
“The government systematically overclassifies too much information, at a dangerous cost to both the nation’s security and the public trust. At the same time, we too often fail to protect the nation’s most important secrets. As chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I think it is clear that our security classification system is badly in need of change,” Warner said. “Given the explosion in digital records, the status quo is no longer tenable. We’ve got too many people with access to a system that is devoid of accountability and has grown increasingly byzantine, bureaucratic, and outmoded. We need to protect our national security secrets, and then declassify those secrets when protections are no longer necessary. It’s time for Congress to take action and establish accountability.”
Cornyn said that controlling access to sensitive information helps the U.S. to stay one step ahead of adversaries, but declassification allows for opportunities to work with allies around the world.
“These bills would modernize the process for classification, ensure the safety and security of what should be classified, and make the declassification process more efficient as we seek to strike the delicate balance between transparency and secrecy,” Cornyn said.
The legislation will establish a new system of governance and accountability for the security classification system, and provides that information may only be or remain classified where the harm to national security reasonably expected from disclosure outweighs the public interest. The maximum period for classification would be set at 25 years, and allow only agency heads or the president to extend classification protections beyond that time.
Public access to government information is vital to a democratic society, according to Wyden, but too many records are classified.
“And, because of obsolete technology, far too few of those records ever see the light of day, even after they no longer meet the requirements for classification. One necessary step in addressing this crisis is to put someone in charge of modernizing the system so that records are tracked and then declassified and released when appropriate. This legislation accomplishes that goal by designating the DNI as the Executive Agent for Classification and Declassification, a reform that Senator Moran and I have been pushing for years. It is also critical that the rules that govern declassification of records be updated and strengthened and that the entities responsible for oversight of the system be empowered,” Wyden said.
The digital age has the country’s classification system absorbing a lot of new information.
“When it comes to declassifying documents, our current analog declassification process is about as effective as using an eye dropper to drain a flood. These deficiencies undermine our national security, and a backlog of unnecessary classified material is harming our ability to protect what should be secret from our enemies. We are long overdue for an overhaul that begins with an up-to-date declassification system in order to better secure our national secrets, and it begins with the legislation introduced today,” Moran said.
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Rebecca Barnabi
