RTT News: Obama Issues Executive Order Establishing National Declassification Center

12/30/2009 11:44 AM ET
President Barack Obama issued a new executive order Tuesday that is intended to address the problem of over-classification in numerous ways and allow researchers to gain timelier access to formerly classified records.

Under the Classified National Security Information order, a National Declassification Center would be established at the National Archives to enable agency reviewers to perform collaborative declassification in accordance with priorities developed by the Archivist with input from the general public.

The order also establishes the principle that no records may remain classified indefinitely as well as providing enforceable deadlines for declassifying information exempted from automatic declassification at 25 years.

It also requires agencies to conduct fundamental classification guidance reviews to ensure that classification guides are up-to-date and that they do not require unnecessary classification.

Finally, the order eliminates an Intelligence Community veto of certain decisions by the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel that was introduced in an executive order made by President George W. Bush.

"This order prescribes a uniform system for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information, including information relating to defense against transnational terrorism," Obama said. "Our democratic principles require that the American people be informed of the activities of their Government."

He added, "Our Nation's progress depends on the free flow of information both within the Government and to the American people."

William Leary, senior director of records and access management at the National Security Council, said, "While the Government must be able to prevent the public disclosure of information that would compromise the national security, a democratic government accountable to the people must be as transparent as possible and must not withhold information for self-serving reasons or simply to avoid embarrassment."

Among some of the notable effects of this executive order would be that, by December 31, 2013, over 400 million pages of Cold War-era documents could be declassified. These documents could provide new insight on the nature of the relationship between the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the Cold War as well as the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.