o Limits the duration of classification of most newly classified information to 10 years, subject to limited exceptions. [Sec. 1.6]
o Mandates automatic declassification of information that is 25 years old, unless it falls within one of the narrow exemption categories, such as revealing the identity of a human source. [Sec. 3.4]
o Establishes an Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel to hear appeals of agency decisions on mandatory declassification review requests or challenges to classification; and to review an agency head's determination to exempt 25-year old information from automatic declassification. [Sec. 5.4]
o Authorizes agency officials to determine whether the public interest in disclosure outweighs the national security interest in maintaining classification when deciding whether to declassify information that otherwise continues to meet the standards for classification. [Sec. 3.2(b)]
o Implements a number of management improvements to better safeguard classified information and reduce the overall costs of protecting such information. [Throughout the Order]
o Stresses a general commitment to openness as a part of the classification management process. [Preamble and throughout the Order]
o Requires classifiers to identify why information is classified. [Sec. 1.7(a)]
o Eliminates presumption that any category of information is automatically classified.
o Specifies sanctions for overclassification. [Sec. 5.7]
o Requires the establishment of a Government-wide declassification database. [Sec. 3.8]
o Establishes an Information Security Policy Advisory Council of non-Government experts to recommend subject areas for systematic declassification review and to advise on classification system policies. [Sec. 5.5]
o Limits the establishment and requires annual revalidation of special access programs and increases both internal and external oversight of these programs. [Sec. 4.4]
o Requires accounting and reporting of costs associated with security classification program. [Sec. 5.6(c)]
o Mandates training and accountability of original classification authorities. [Sec. 1.4(d); 5.6(c)]
o Calls for challenges of improper classification decisions and establishes processing procedures that ensure non- retribution. [Sec. 1.9]
o Requires personal commitment of agency heads and senior management to the effective implementation of the system. [Sec. 5.6(a)]
On April 17 President Clinton signed Executive Order 12958 which has the potential of significantly reforming current policies on secrecy. Almost two years ago, President Clinton established a task force to redraft President Reagan's 1982 Executive Order 12356, which established a policy that encouraged classification and which had no target date for the declassification of older records. In his signing statement, Clinton asserted: "The order will lift the veil on millions of existing documents, keep a great many future documents from ever becoming classified, and still maintain necessary controls over information that legitimately needs to be guarded in the interests of national security." He further noted the cost savings of the new system and stressed that it will create a new climate of openness by requiring classifiers to justify what they classify and encouraging employees to challenge improper classification.
Clinton's new order states that "within 5 years from the date of this Order, all classified information contained in records that (1) are more than 25 years old, and (2) have been determined to have permanent historical value under title 44, United States Code, shall be automatically declassified whether or not it has been reviewed." In this provision, Clinton has established a time frame for the release of information and has adopted "bulk declassification," instead of total reliance on the tedious and costly page-by-page review of every document, as a means of declassifying records. The new order provides federal agencies with a grace period of five years to meet the provisions of this order. During this period agency heads may use nine specific criteria given in the order to exempt specific information from automatic declassification by preparing a written justification explaining why this information must remain classified for a longer period.
Both the tone of openness and the automatic declassification provisions of Executive order 12958 offer dramatic changes to the policies established by the Reagan Order. Although this order is about classification of current records as well as declassification of older records, some of the most significant policy changes are about the declassification of older records. The new order sets forth commendable goals; however some of us who have been reviewing and commenting on various drafts over the last two years have some lingering concerns that the process as prescribed could be diverted. If the exemptions that will allow information to continue to be classified beyond the 25 years are too broadly interpreted, if the requirement for the justification of extensions results in boiler plate language that can be used on vast quantities of records, or if the interagency security classification appeals panel fails to scrutinize the exceptions to declassification, then the old system will prevail and the promise of increased openness will not be realized. There is disappointment that in its final form, this order did not include stronger language regarding the need to balance the basic requirements of national security with the imperatives of democratic government and the public's need to know. Yet when one considers the many provisions of the Reagan order that resulted in an enormous mountain of classified information, the Clinton order represents a major shift away from secrecy and toward openness. If a good faith effort is made to implement this order, by 2000 all but the most sensitive records that were created during or before 1975 will be opened.