116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3733
To establish the Executive Agent for Declassification to promote
programs, processes, and systems and for directing resources relating
to declassification in the Federal Government, and for other purposes.
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IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 14, 2020
Mr. Wyden (for himself and Mr. Moran) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs
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A BILL
To establish the Executive Agent for Declassification to promote
programs, processes, and systems and for directing resources relating
to declassification in the Federal Government, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Declassification Reform Act of
2020''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) In his August 16, 2019, letter to the President, the
director of the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO)
wrote the following: ``Today, the Government creates electronic
petabytes of classified and controlled unclassified data each
month, a deluge that we expect will continue to grow
unabated''.
(2) The director of the Office has identified problems in
the declassification system for years, writing in his August
16, 2019, letter, ``In my last annual report to you, I
emphasized that users of this system inside and outside the
Government rightly observe that its current framework is
unsustainable and desperately requires modernization. The
investment, adoption, and use of advanced technologies lie at
the core of this transformation, but we also need new policies
and practices that reflect and support the way the Government
actually operates in the 21st century''.
(3) The director of the Office wrote in his August 16,
2019, letter the following: ``The Government has not invested
in the technologies needed to support electronic information
management and information security''.
(4) In its June 2016 report, the Public Interest
Declassification Board (PIDB) wrote the following: ``[n]early
all users of the security classification system agree that it
is no longer able to handle the current volume and forms of
information, especially given the exponential growth of digital
information''.
(5) In its June 2016 report, the Board wrote the following:
``[a]s the PIDB has previously noted in all of our reports, we
reaffirm that our most important recommendation for developing
and ensuring such a system is the adoption of a government-wide
technology investment strategy for the management of classified
information.''.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Classification.--The term ``classification'' means the
act or process by which information is determined to be
classified information.
(2) Classified national security information or classified
information.--The term ``classified national security
information'' or ``classified information'' means information
that has been determined pursuant to Executive Order 13526 (50
U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to classified national security
information), or any predecessor or successor order, to require
protection against unauthorized disclosure and is marked to
indicate its classified status when in documentary form.
(3) Declassification.--The term ``declassification'' means
the authorized change in the status of information from
classified information to unclassified information.
(4) Executive agency.--The term ``Executive agency'' has
the meaning given such term in section 105 of title 5, United
States Code.
SEC. 4. EXECUTIVE AGENT FOR DECLASSIFICATION.
(a) Establishment.--There is in the executive branch of the Federal
Government an Executive Agent for Declassification who shall be
responsible for promoting programs, processes, and systems relating to
declassification, including developing technical solutions for
automating declassification review, and directing resources for such
purposes in the Federal Government.
(b) Designation.--The Director of National Intelligence shall serve
as the Executive Agent for Declassification.
(c) Duties.--The duties of the Executive Agent for Declassification
are as follows:
(1) To promote programs, processes, and systems with the
goal of ensuring that declassification activities keep pace
with classification activities and that classified information
is declassified at such time as it no longer meets the standard
for classification.
(2) To promote the establishment of a federated
declassification system to streamline, modernize, and oversee
declassification across Executive agencies.
(3) To direct resources to develop, coordinate, and
implement a federated declassification system that includes
technologies that automate declassification review and promote
consistency in declassification determinations across the
executive branch of the Federal Government.
(4) To work with the Director of the Office of Management
and Budget in developing a line item for declassification in
each budget of the President that is submitted for a fiscal
year under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code.
(5) To identify and support the development of--
(A) best practices for declassification among
Executive agencies; and
(B) goal oriented declassification pilot programs.
(6) To promote and implement technological and automated
solutions relating to declassification, with human input as
necessary for key policy decisions.
(7) To promote feasible, sustainable, and interoperable
programs, processes, and systems to facilitate a federate
declassification system.
(8) To direct the implementation across Executive agencies
of the most effective programs and approaches relating to
declassification.
(9) To establish, oversee, and enforce acquisition and
contracting policies relating to declassification programs.
(10) In coordination with the Information Security
Oversight Office in the National Archives and Records
Administration--
(A) to issue policies and directives to the heads
of Executive agencies relating to directing resources
and making technological investments in
declassification that include support for a federated
declassification system;
(B) to ensure implementation of the policies and
directives issued under subparagraph (A);
(C) to collect information on declassification
practices and policies across Executive agencies,
including challenges to effective declassification,
training, accounting, and costs associated with
classification and declassification;
(D) to develop policies for ensuring the accuracy
of information obtained from Federal agencies; and
(E) to develop accurate and relevant metrics for
judging the success of declassification policies and
directives.
(d) Consultation With Executive Committee on Declassification
Programs and Technology.--In making decisions under this section, the
Executive Agent for Declassification shall consult with the Executive
Committee on Declassification Programs and Technology established under
section 5(a).
(e) Coordination With the National Declassification Center.--In
implementing a federated declassification system, the Executive Agent
for Declassification shall act in coordination with the National
Declassification Center established by section 3.7(a) of Executive
Order 13526 (50 U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to classified national
security information).
SEC. 5. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ON DECLASSIFICATION PROGRAMS AND
TECHNOLOGY.
(a) Establishment.--There is established a committee to provide
advice and guidance to the Executive Agent for Declassification on
matters relating to declassification programs and technology.
(b) Designation.--The committee established by subsection (a) shall
be known as the ``Executive Committee on Declassification Programs and
Technology'' (in this section referred to as the ``Committee'').
(c) Membership.--
(1) Composition.--The Committee shall be composed of the
following:
(A) The Director of National Intelligence.
(B) The Under Secretary of Defense for
Intelligence.
(C) The Secretary of Energy.
(D) The Secretary of State.
(E) The Director of the National Declassification
Center.
(F) The Director of the Information Security
Oversight Board.
(G) The Director of the Office of Management and
Budget.
(H) Such other members as the Executive Agent for
Declassification considers appropriate.
(2) Chairperson.--The chairperson of the Committee shall be
the Director of National Intelligence.
SEC. 6. ADVISORY BODIES FOR EXECUTIVE AGENT FOR DECLASSIFICATION.
(a) Designation of Advisory Bodies.--The following are hereby
advisory bodies for the Executive Agent for Declassification:
(1) The Public Interest Declassification Board established
by section 703(a) of the Public Interest Declassification Act
of 2000 (Public Law 106-567).
(2) The Office of the Historian of the Department of State.
(3) The Historical Office of the Secretary of Defense.
(4) The office of the chief historian of the Central
Intelligence Agency.
(b) Matters Pertaining to the Public Interest Declassification
Board.--
(1) Continuity of membership.--Subsection (c)(2) of section
703 of the Public Interest Declassification Act of 2000 (Public
Law 106-567; 50 U.S.C. 3161 note) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``(E) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this
paragraph, a member whose term has expired may continue
to serve until a successor is appointed.''.
(2) Meetings.--Subsection (e) of such section is amended,
in the second sentence, by inserting ``appointed'' before
``members''.
SEC. 7. REPORTING.
(a) Annual Report.--Not later than the end of the first full fiscal
year beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act and not less
frequently than once each fiscal year, the Executive Agent for
Declassification shall submit to Congress and make available to the
public a report on the implementation of declassification programs and
processes in the most recently completed fiscal year.
(b) Coordination.--The report shall be coordinated with the Annual
Report of the Information Security Oversight Office in the National
Archives and Records Administration pursuant to Section 5.2(b)(8) of
Executive Order 13526.
(c) Contents.--Each report submitted and made available under
subsection (a) shall include, for the period covered by the report, the
following:
(1) The costs incurred by the Federal Government for
classification and declassification.
(2) A description of information systems of the Federal
Government and technology programs, processes, and systems of
Executive agencies related to declassification.
(3) A description of the policies and directives issued by
the Executive Agent for Declassification and other activities
of the Executive Agent for Declassification.
(4) A description of the challenges posed to Executive
agencies in implementing the policies and directives of the
Executive Agent for Declassification relating to
declassification as well as the policies of the Executive
agencies.
(5) A description of pilot programs and new investments in
programs, processes, and systems relating to declassification
and metrics of effectiveness for such programs, processes, and
systems.
(6) A description of progress and challenges in achieving
the goal described in section 4(c)(1).
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act
$5,000,000 for fiscal year 2021.
