Preserving American Access to Information Act

The 1994 Joint Security Commission, convened at the request of the Secretary of Defense and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency stated that “[t]he classification system, largely unchanged since the Eisenhower administration has grown out of control. More information is being classified and for extended periods of time. Security rules proliferate, becoming more complex yet remaining unrelated to the threat. . . . Indeed, the classification system is not trusted on the inside any more than it is on the outside. Insiders do not trust it to protect information that needs protection. Outsiders do not trust it to release information that does not need protection”.

The Public Interest Declassification Board, notes in its 2012 report that “[a]gencies are currently creating petabytes of classified information annually, which quickly outpaces the amount of information the Government has declassified in total in the previous seventeen years since Executive Order 12958 established the policy of automatic declassification for 25 year old records. Without dramatic improvement in the declassification process, the rate at which classified records are being created will drive an exponential growth in the archival backlog of classified records awaiting declassification, and public access to the nation's history will deteriorate further”.

In general— The President shall take appropriate actions to enhance the authority and capacity of the National Declassification Center under Executive Order No. 13526, or any successor Executive order, in order to facilitate, enhance, and advance a government-wide strategy for the declassification of information.

Required actions— The actions taken under subsection (a) shall include the following:

In general— The Director of the National Declassification Center shall provide for consultation between the advisory panel to the National Declassification Center and the public.

Frequency— Consultations under subsection (a) shall occur not less frequently than the frequency of the regular meetings of the advisory panel to the National Declassification Center and, to the extent practicable, shall occur concurrently with the meetings of the advisory panel.

Reports— The Public Interest Declassification Board shall, in consultation with the heads of Federal agencies that classify and review classified information as well as the Director of the National Declassification Center, submit to Congress reports setting forth options for various pilot programs to assess the feasibility and advisability of mechanisms to improve the current declassification capabilities of such agencies, including updates of software and procedures relating to declassification of information.

Mechanisms— In selecting mechanisms to be assessed pursuant to the pilot programs for purposes of subsection (a), an emphasis shall be afforded to the selection of current technologies and practices that could improve current declassification capabilities, including commercial, off the shelf-technologies and current best practices of Federal agencies and the private sector.

An assessment of feasibility and advisability of replacing the current classification system of such agency with a two-tiered system, including an analysis and assessment of restructuring necessary to align the level of protection with the level of harm anticipated in the event of unauthorized release of sensitive information.

If such agency possesses records with classified Formerly Restricted Data (FRD), an assessment of the feasibility and advisability of declassifying such records.