II

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1885

To amend the National Security Act of 1947 to provide a uniform framework

for the classification and declassification of information in the interests

of national security.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 2 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 22), 1994

Mr. DECONCINI (for himself and Mr. KERREY) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence

A BILL

To amend the National Security Act of 1947 to provide

a uniform framework for the classification and declassification of information in the interests of national

security.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Security Classification

5 Act of 1994’’.
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1 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.

2 The table of contents of the National Security Act

3 of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) is amended by adding

4 at the end the following:

‘‘TITLE VIII—CLASSIFICATION OF INFORMATION IN THE

INTERESTS OF NATIONAL SECURITY

‘‘Sec. 801. Definitions.

‘‘Sec. 802. Classification criteria.

‘‘Sec. 803. Identification and marking of classified information.

‘‘Sec. 804. Authority to classify information.

‘‘Sec. 805. Duration of classification.

‘‘Sec. 806. Protection of classified information.

‘‘Sec. 807. Special access programs.

‘‘Sec. 808. Declassification, generally.

‘‘Sec. 809. Declassification pursuant to a request by a member of the public.

‘‘Sec. 810. Declassification of permanently valuable records of the Government

for historical reasons.

‘‘Sec. 811. Special declassification reviews for topics of historical interest.

‘‘Sec. 812. Oversight.

‘‘Sec. 813. Sanctions.

‘‘Sec. 814. Implementation.

‘‘Sec. 815. Effect on information previously classified pursuant to Executive

order.’’.

5 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY ACT OF

6 1947.

7 The National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401

8 et seq.) is amended by adding the following new title:

9 ‘‘TITLE VIII—CLASSIFICATION

10 OF INFORMATION IN THE IN11 TERESTS OF NATIONAL SECU12 RITY

13 ‘‘SEC. 801. DEFINITIONS.

14 ‘‘As used in this title:
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1 ‘‘(1) The term ‘agency’ has the meaning pro2 vided in section 552(f) of title 5, United States

3 Code.

4 ‘‘(2) The term ‘appropriate committees of the

5 Congress’ means the Committee on Governmental

6 Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Government

7 Operations of the House of Representatives, the Se8 lect Committee on Intelligence of the Senate, the

9 Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the

10 House of Representatives, and, for purposes of re11 ceiving reports regarding specific categories of infor12 mation, such committees as may have jurisdiction

13 over the subject matter of such information.

14 ‘‘(3) The term ‘classified information’ means in15 formation that has been determined pursuant to this

16 title to require protection against unauthorized dis17 closure in the interests of national security.

18 ‘‘(4) The term ‘declassification’ means the au19 thorized change in the status of information from

20 classified to unclassified information.

21 ‘‘(5) The term ‘information’ means any knowl22 edge that can be communicated or documentary ma23 terial regardless of its physical form or characteris24 tics.
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1 ‘‘(6) The term ‘international organization’

2 means an organization designated under section 1 of

3 the International Organizations Immunities Act (22

4 U.S.C. 288).

5 ‘‘(7) The term ‘national security’ means the na6 tional defense or foreign relations of the United

7 States.

8 ‘‘(8) The term ‘originating agency’ means, with

9 respect to information, the department, agency, or

10 entity of the United States (or any officer or em11 ployee thereof of acting in his official capacity) that

12 originates, develops, publishes, issues, or otherwise

13 prepares that information or receives that informa14 tion from outside the United States Government.

15 ‘‘(9) The term ‘security clearance’ means a de16 termination, by appropriate governmental authority,

17 based upon appropriate investigation, that a person

18 can with reasonable certainty be trusted to protect

19 classified information to which he or she may be

20 given access.

21 ‘‘(10) The term ‘unauthorized disclosure’ means

22 a communication or physical transfer of information

23 to an unauthorized recipient.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 802. CLASSIFICATION CRITERIA.

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Information may be classified

3 under this title—

4 ‘‘(1) only if such information is owned by, pro5 duced by or for, or is under the control of the

6 United States Government; and

7 ‘‘(2)(A) only if it can be specifically dem8 onstrated that the public release of such information

9 could reasonably be expected to—

10 ‘‘(i) impair the ability of the United States

11 Government and its Armed Forces to defend

12 the United States from armed aggression, to

13 engage in armed conflict, or to participate in

14 peacekeeping or multinational operations

15 abroad;

16 ‘‘(ii) increase the vulnerability of the

17 United States Government personnel, installa18 tions, weapons technology, or related systems to

19 armed attack, loss or compromise, or measures

20 that would weaken their effectiveness or counter

21 their capabilities;

22 ‘‘(iii) damage relations between the United

23 States and another country or international or24 ganization, impede current diplomatic negotia25 tions, or reveal information provided in con-
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1 fidence by another country or international or2 ganization;

3 ‘‘(iv) reveal intelligence sources and meth4 ods, including those related to covert actions

5 and cryptologic activities;

6 ‘‘(v) impair United States Government

7 programs from safeguarding nuclear weapons

8 or facilities;

9 ‘‘(vi) damage the ability of the United

10 States to relate or apply critical research or

11 technology to the national defense or foreign re12 lations of the United States; and

13 ‘‘(vii) impair the ability of the United

14 States Secret Service to provide protection to

15 designated persons as required by applicable

16 law; or

17 ‘‘(B) such information otherwise falls within a

18 category designated by the President, after consulta19 tion with the appropriate committees of the Con20 gress, the public release of which would, in a manner

21 that can be specifically demonstrated, damage the

22 national security of the United States and such in23 formation is not covered by any of the clauses of

24 subparagraph (A).
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1 Categories designated under paragraph (2)(B) shall be

2 published in the Federal Register prior to their effective

3 date.

4 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.—In no case shall information be

5 classified pursuant to this section in order to—

6 ‘‘(1) conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or

7 administrative error;

8 ‘‘(2) prevent embarrassment to a person, orga9 nization, or agency;

10 ‘‘(3) restrain competition;

11 ‘‘(4) prevent or delay the release of information

12 that does not require protection in the interests of

13 national security;

14 ‘‘(5) control access to basic scientific research

15 information not clearly related to the national secu16 rity;

17 ‘‘(6) control information after it has been re18 leased to the public or a member thereof under prop19 er authority; or

20 ‘‘(7) prevent the public release of a compilation

21 of items of information which individually are not

22 classified.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 803. IDENTIFICATION AND MARKING OF CLASSIFIED

2 INFORMATION.

3 ‘‘(a) CLASSIFICATIONS.—All information classified

4 pursuant to this title shall be clearly identified in an ap5 propriate fashion as either ‘TOP SECRET’ or ‘SECRET’,

6 in accordance with subsections (b) and (c).

7 ‘‘(b) ‘TOP SECRET’ CLASSIFICATION.—Classification

8 as ‘TOP SECRET’ shall be limited to information which

9 meets the criteria for classification established by sub10 section 802(a) of this title, whose disclosure to unauthor11 ized persons would have the most serious adverse con12 sequences for the national security, as determined in ac13 cordance with regulations to be issued by the President

14 pursuant to section 814 of this title.

15 ‘‘(c) ‘SECRET’ CLASSIFICATION.—Classification as

16 ‘SECRET’ shall apply to all other information which

17 meets the criteria for classification established by section

18 802(a).

19 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—All information

20 classified pursuant to this title shall also be marked in

21 an appropriate manner at the time of classification to pro22 vide the following information:

23 ‘‘(1) The agency and office of origin, if not oth24 erwise evident.

25 ‘‘(2) A date or event for declassification as26 signed pursuant to section 805.
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1 ‘‘(3) A determination whether the document or

2 material contains information which falls within one

3 or more of the categories set forth in section 810(b).

4 ‘‘(e) MARKING PORTIONS FOR CLASSIFICATION.—

5 Each classified document shall, by marking or other

6 means, indicate which portions are classified and which

7 portions are unclassified and shall identify the classified

8 portions with the appropriate classification.

9 ‘‘(f) EXCLUSIVITY OF CLASSIFICATIONS.—Except as

10 provided by section 807 of this title, and the Atomic En11 ergy Act of 1954, no classifications other than those au12 thorized by this section shall be utilized to identify classi13 fied information.

14 ‘‘SEC. 804. AUTHORITY TO CLASSIFY INFORMATION.

15 ‘‘(a) EXECUTIVE BRANCH.—Information may be

16 classified only by originating agencies within the executive

17 branch of Government, in accordance with procedures pro18 mulgated by the President pursuant to section 814, and

19 only by persons authorized by such procedures to classify

20 information.

21 ‘‘(b) LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIAL BRANCHES.—Doc22 uments or materials created by the legislative and judicial

23 branches of Government which contain classified informa24 tion originated by a department or agency of the executive

25 branch shall be assigned the same classification as was
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1 assigned to the information by the department or agency

2 which originated the information concerned.

3 ‘‘SEC. 805. DURATION OF CLASSIFICATION.

4 ‘‘(a) DATE OR EVENT FOR DECLASSIFICATION.—At

5 the time a classification is made, the originating agency

6 of the information shall attempt to establish a specific

7 date or event for declassification of that information based

8 upon the expected duration of the national security sen9 sitivity of the information, and, if this can be done, shall

10 mark the material for declassification by that date, pursu11 ant to subsection 803(d)(2). The date or event shall not

12 exceed the time period prescribed in subsection (b)(1) or

13 subsection (b)(2), as the case may be.

14 ‘‘(b) DURATION OF CLASSIFICATIONS.—If the origi15 nating agency cannot determine a specific date or event

16 for declassification:

17 ‘‘(1) Classified information designated as ‘TOP

18 SECRET’ shall be marked for declassification no

19 later than 15 years from the date of the original de20 cision to classify the information.

21 ‘‘(2) Classified information designated as ‘SE22 CRET’ shall be marked for declassification no later

23 than 10 years from the date of the original decision

24 to classify the information.
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1 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION OF CLASSIFICATION TO DERIVED

2 DOCUMENTS.—All documents or materials which contain

3 classified information derived from other classified docu4 ments or materials shall be marked with the same date

5 or event for declassification as the documents or materials

6 which were the source of the classified information con7 cerned. When multiple classified sources are used, the lat8 est of the dates assigned for declassification shall be ap9 plied.

10 ‘‘SEC. 806. PROTECTION OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.

11 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBILITY FOR ACCESS.—Except as otherwise

12 provided by subsections (d), (e), and (f), access to classi13 fied information shall be limited to persons who have re14 ceived a security clearance permitting such access and

15 only to the extent needed by such persons for the perform16 ance of an official governmental function.

17 ‘‘(b) CONTROL BY REGULATION.—In accordance with

18 section 814, the President shall issue regulations which

19 provide for a uniform system for the protection of infor20 mation classified pursuant to this title applicable to all ele21 ments of the executive branch of Government. These con22 trols shall ensure that classified information is used, proc23 essed, stored, reproduced, transmitted, and destroyed in

24 a manner that prevents access by persons who do not pos25 sess a security clearance and an official need for access
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1 to such information. Such controls shall also require more

2 stringent security measures for the protection of informa3 tion classified as ‘TOP SECRET’, pursuant to section

4 803(b), than is required for the protection of information

5 classified as ‘SECRET’ pursuant to section 803(c).

6 ‘‘(c) LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIAL BRANCHES.—The

7 legislative and judicial branches of Government shall

8 adopt the same or similar procedures to provide a com9 parable degree of protection for classified information pro10 vided by departments and agencies of the executive branch

11 of Government.

12 ‘‘(d) ACCESS BY ELECTED OFFICIALS AND JUDICIAL

13 APPOINTEES.—By virtue of their elected or appointed po14 sitions, the President and Vice President of the United

15 States, Members of Congress, and persons appointed by

16 the President to the Federal judiciary shall have access

17 to such classified information as may be needed for the

18 performance of their official duties without receiving a se19 curity clearance.

20 ‘‘(e) PERSONS NOT HOLDING SECURITY CLEAR21 ANCES.—In accordance with the regulations issued pursu22 ant to section 814, the President may permit access to

23 classified information to persons who do not have a secu24 rity clearance who are engaged in historical research, or

25 who previously occupied policymaking positions to which
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1 they were appointed by the President, if appropriate meas2 ures are taken to preclude access by other persons who

3 have not been specifically authorized access under this

4 subsection.

5 ‘‘(f) FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS AND INTERNATIONAL

6 ORGANIZATIONS.—Whenever the President determines

7 that it would be in the interests of the United States to

8 permit access to classified information to a foreign govern9 ment or to an international organization, the President is

10 authorized to do so if such government or organization

11 agrees in advance to provide a comparable degree of pro12 tection to such information to preclude its disclosure to

13 unauthorized persons, and the President determines that

14 such government or organization is capable of providing

15 such protection.

16 ‘‘SEC. 807. SPECIAL ACCESS PROGRAMS.

17 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The President may author18 ize, in regulations issued pursuant to section 814, the es19 tablishment of special access programs by the Secretaries

20 of State, Defense, and Energy, or the Director of Central

21 Intelligence. The President may establish such programs

22 in any other department or agency of the executive branch

23 of Government if the President notifies the appropriate

24 committees of the Congress 30 days in advance.
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1 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—(1) Special access programs

2 under this section shall be created only where there is a

3 need, due to the national security sensitivity of the infor4 mation concerned, for a formal mechanism to establish an

5 official need for access to the information concerned and

6 for more stringent security measures than are applicable

7 to classified information generally to protect such informa8 tion.

9 ‘‘(2) To the extent possible, such special access pro10 grams shall not involve security requirements in addition

11 to those required for the protection of information classi12 fied as ‘TOP SECRET’ other than the creation of a list

13 of persons with appropriate security clearances who are

14 permitted access to the classified information covered by

15 the program for an official governmental purpose and such

16 mechanisms as may be necessary to implement such con17 trols.

18 ‘‘(3) Wherever an agency head determines that secu19 rity measures in addition to those which apply to informa20 tion classified as ‘TOP SECRET’ are necessary to protect

21 information within a special access program, such addi22 tional measures shall conform to and not exceed a single,

23 uniform set of security measures approved by the Presi24 dent, or the President’s designee, for this purpose.
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1 ‘‘(4) Information protected within an authorized spe2 cial access program shall be designated only as ‘RE3 STRICTED’, and dissemination of such information shall

4 be limited to persons who have been authorized access to

5 such program by an appropriate official of the department

6 or agency concerned.

7 ‘‘(5) Each department or agency head authorized to

8 establish special access programs shall establish and main9 tain a system of accounting for such programs consistent

10 with regulations promulgated by the President, or the

11 President’s designee, for this purpose.

12 ‘‘(6) Such special access programs shall be subject

13 to oversight by the senior oversight official appointed by

14 the President pursuant to section 812, who shall be af15 forded such access to these programs as may be necessary

16 to perform his or her responsibilities.

17 ‘‘(7) Each department or agency head authorized to

18 establish special access programs pursuant to this section

19 shall ensure that each such program is reviewed annually

20 to determine whether it continues to meet the require21 ments of this section.

22 ‘‘(c) RULE OF STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Noth23 ing in this section shall affect the provisions of section

24 119 of title 10, United States Code.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 808. DECLASSIFICATION, GENERALLY.

2 ‘‘Information which is classified pursuant to this title

3 shall remain classified until one of the following has oc4 curred:

5 ‘‘(1) If a specific date or event has been as6 signed for declassification, the date or event as7 signed has occurred.

8 ‘‘(2) In response to a request from a member

9 of the public, submitted pursuant to section 552 or

10 552a of title 5, United States Code, or otherwise, for

11 documents or materials containing such information,

12 the head of the originating agency, or the agency

13 head’s designee for this purpose, has determined

14 that such information no longer meets the criteria

15 for classification established by this title in accord16 ance with section 809.

17 ‘‘(3) The information is contained in documents

18 or materials reviewed in accordance with section 810

19 or 811, and the head of the originating agency, or

20 the agency head’s designee for this purpose, has de21 termined that such information does not meet the

22 criteria for continued classification established pur23 suant to that section.

24 ‘‘(4) Such information has been declassified by

25 an appropriate authority within the executive branch

26 in accordance with this title.
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1 ‘‘(5) Such information has been determined to

2 have been improperly classified by a court of com3 petent jurisdiction, and a final order has been issued

4 requiring the release of such information.

5 ‘‘SEC. 809. DECLASSIFICATION PURSUANT TO A REQUEST

6 BY A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC.

7 ‘‘(a) DECLASSIFICATION REVIEW.—Except as pro8 vided by subsection (c), any document or material contain9 ing classified information which is requested by a United

10 States citizen or permanent resident alien, a Federal agen11 cy, or a State or local government, shall be subjected to

12 a review for declassification by the originating agency at

13 any time after the information has been created in accord14 ance with this section.

15 ‘‘(b) REFERRAL TO ORIGINATING AGENCY.—All re16 quests for declassification review which are received by a

17 department or agency which did not originate the informa18 tion concerned, or by an element of the legislative or judi19 cial branches, shall be referred to the department or agen20 cy of the executive branch which originated such informa21 tion, and the requester shall be apprised of such referral.

22 ‘‘(c) GROUNDS FOR DENIAL OF DECLASSIFICATION

23 REVIEW.—Any originating agency which receives a re24 quest to review classified information for declassification
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1 pursuant to this section may decline to conduct such re2 view if—

3 ‘‘(1) the requester is unable to identify the doc4 ument or material concerned with sufficient specific5 ity to enable the originating agency to locate it with

6 a reasonable amount of effort; or

7 ‘‘(2) a review of the same document or material

8 has taken place within the last year, in which case

9 the requester shall be apprised of the results of the

10 previous review.

11 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY FOR DECLASSIFICATION.—(1) For

12 purposes of the declassification reviews required by this

13 section—

14 ‘‘(A) information shall be declassified if it no

15 longer meets the criteria established by this title;

16 and

17 ‘‘(B) classified information shall be presumed to

18 no longer meet the criteria for classification estab19 lished by this title if, at the time of review, the date

20 or event assigned for declassification has passed, un21 less the agency head or senior agency official deter22 mines in writing, citing specific reasons, that the in23 formation concerned clearly continues to meet the

24 criteria for classification established by this title.
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1 ‘‘(2) In the case of information described in para2 graph (1)(B), a new date shall be assigned for declassifica3 tion of the information concerned which shall not exceed

4 5 years from the date of such determination and the re5 quester shall be apprised of this determination.

6 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding a determination that the infor7 mation requested continues to meet the criteria for classi8 fication pursuant to paragraph (1), an agency head or the

9 senior agency official shall declassify such information if

10 the public interest in disclosure of the information out11 weighs the national security interest in its continued clas12 sification.

13 ‘‘SEC. 810. DECLASSIFICATION OF PERMANENTLY VALU14 ABLE RECORDS OF THE GOVERNMENT FOR

15 HISTORICAL REASONS.

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the reviews re17 quired by section 809, departments and agencies which

18 originate classified information shall establish programs to

19 require review for declassification of all classified docu20 ments and materials which are at least 25 years old, which

21 are determined to constitute permanently valuable records

22 of the Government, prior to their being transferred to the

23 National Archives of the United States in accordance with

24 applicable law.
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1 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—Documents or materials subject

2 to the review required by subsection (a) shall be declas3 sified unless they contain information the release of which

4 could reasonably be expected to—

5 ‘‘(1) identify a confidential human intelligence

6 source;

7 ‘‘(2) reveal information not publicly available

8 that would clearly assist in the development or use

9 of weapons of mass destruction;

10 ‘‘(3) reveal information not publicly available

11 that would clearly impair United States cryptologic

12 systems or activities; or

13 ‘‘(4) violate a statute, treaty, or international

14 agreement.

15 ‘‘(c) EXPEDITED REVIEW.—For purposes of making

16 the determination required by subsection (b), if the docu17 ment or material has been classified pursuant to this title

18 and has been marked pursuant to subsection 803(d)(3)

19 as not containing information falling within one or more

20 of the categories established by subsection (b), the docu21 ment or material shall be declassified without further re22 view by the originating agency, except that where an origi23 nating agency determines that the document or material

24 concerned should have been marked as containing such in-
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1 formation, the originating agency may treat such docu2 ment or material in accordance with subsection (d).

3 ‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF EXEMPTED DOCUMENTS.—

4 Wherever documents and materials subject to review in

5 accordance with subsection (a) are found to contain infor6 mation which falls into one of the categories set forth in

7 subsection (b), the originating agency shall—

8 ‘‘(1) assign a specific date or event upon which

9 the document or material shall be reevaluated for

10 declassification, except that such date or event shall

11 be no later than 5 years after the date of the initial

12 review;

13 ‘‘(2) set aside in one physical location a copy of

14 the documents and materials determined to contain

15 such information;

16 ‘‘(3) establish a system which facilitates the

17 continuous review of such documents or materials at

18 the date or event assigned (which shall not exceed

19 5-year intervals) until the document or material is

20 declassified; and

21 ‘‘(4) report annually to the senior oversight offi22 cial appointed by the President pursuant to section

23 812 regarding the volume and status of such docu24 ments and materials.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 811. SPECIAL DECLASSIFICATION REVIEWS FOR

2 TOPICS OF HISTORICAL INTEREST.

3 ‘‘In addition to the declassification reviews required

4 by sections 809 and 810, the President shall establish pro5 cedures pursuant to section 814 to provide for special de6 classification reviews to be undertaken by affected depart7 ments and agencies of the executive branch leading to the

8 declassification of information regarding topics of signifi9 cant and current historical interest. Such procedures shall,

10 at a minimum—

11 ‘‘(1) provide for the appointment of a National

12 Security Historical Advisory Panel, consisting of

13 representatives from the public and private sector,

14 that shall, after appropriate consultations with af15 fected departments and agencies, historians, archi16 vists, and others with interests in the classified

17 records concerned, be authorized to direct, consistent

18 with available resources, special governmentwide de19 classification reviews of classified documents and

20 materials relating to topics of significant and cur21 rent historical interest;

22 ‘‘(2) provide that special reviews ordinarily will

23 be limited to topics or events which occurred more

24 than 25 years in the past unless the Panel deter25 mines an overriding public interest in undertaking

26 such a review of a more recent event or topic;
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1 ‘‘(3) give precedence, where necessary, in terms

2 of the use of available resources, to the accomplish3 ment of special reviews, over the accomplishment of

4 declassification reviews required by section 810; and

5 ‘‘(4) direct departments and agencies to provide

6 such support to special reviews as may be necessary

7 to meet the objectives established by the Panel.

8 ‘‘SEC. 812. OVERSIGHT.

9 ‘‘(a) APPOINTMENT.—(1) A senior oversight official

10 shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice

11 and consent of the Senate, who shall be responsible for

12 monitoring the overall implementation of this title within

13 the executive branch and shall report annually to the

14 President and to the appropriate committees of the Con15 gress with respect to the operation of this title, together

16 with any recommendation for statutory or regulatory

17 change. Such official shall also be authorized to consider

18 and take appropriate action with respect to complaints

19 and suggestions from persons within or outside the Gov20 ernment with respect to the administration of this title,

21 including the declassification of information which has

22 been improperly classified.

23 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this section establishes a legal right

24 or entitlement for any person within or outside the Gov25 ernment, nor subjects the official appointed pursuant to
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1 this section to suit in any court of law to require perform2 ance under this title.

3 ‘‘(b) ACCESS TO CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.—The

4 senior oversight official appointed pursuant to subsection

5 (a) shall have access to such classified information as may

6 be required for the performance of his or her duties.

7 ‘‘(c) DESIGNATED AGENCY OFFICIALS.—The head of

8 each originating agency shall designate a senior agency

9 official who shall have overall responsibility within the

10 agency for the implementation of this title. Each such offi11 cial shall keep the senior oversight official appointed pur12 suant to subsection (a) fully and currently informed with

13 respect to the implementation of this title within his or

14 her respective department or agency, including the report15 ing of any violations of this title which may have been

16 identified and the remedial actions taken as a result.

17 ‘‘(d) CHALLENGES TO CLASSIFICATIONS.—Any au18 thorized holder of classified information who, in good

19 faith, believes that such information should not be classi20 fied or should be classified at a different level, may chal21 lenge the classification status in accordance with regula22 tions to be promulgated by the President pursuant to sec23 tion 814. Such regulations shall, at a minimum, assure

24 that—
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1 ‘‘(1) individuals are not subject to retribution

2 for bringing such challenge;

3 ‘‘(2) an opportunity is provided for review of

4 such challenge by an impartial official; and

5 ‘‘(3) the right to appeal the decision of such of6 ficial to a higher level is guaranteed.

7 ‘‘SEC. 813. SANCTIONS.

8 ‘‘(a) UNLAWFUL CLASSIFICATION ACTIVITY.—Per9 sons with authorized access to classified information who

10 are determined to have—

11 ‘‘(1) knowingly and willfully classified informa12 tion in violation of section 802 of this title;

13 ‘‘(2) knowingly and willfully continued a classi14 fication in violation of sections 808 and 809 of this

15 title; or

16 ‘‘(3) demonstrated reckless disregard in apply17 ing the classification criteria of section 802 of this

18 title,

19 shall be removed from access to classified information and

20 shall be subjected to disciplinary actions that may include

21 official reprimand, suspension without pay, or removal

22 from employment, as may be appropriate.

23 ‘‘(b) UNLAWFUL DISCLOSURE.—Persons with au24 thorized access to information classified pursuant to this

25 title who knowingly and willfully disclose such information
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1 to an unauthorized person shall, in addition to incurring

2 potential criminal liability under chapter 37 of title 18,

3 United States Code, or section 4 of the Subversive Activi4 ties Control Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 783), be removed

5 from access to classified information and shall be sub6 jected to disciplinary actions that may include official rep7 rimand, suspension without pay, or removal from employ8 ment, as may be appropriate.

9 ‘‘SEC. 814. IMPLEMENTATION.

10 ‘‘(a) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—Not later than 180

11 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the President

12 shall issue regulations to implement this title with respect

13 to agencies of the executive branch. Such regulations shall

14 take effect 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.

15 ‘‘(b) PROCEDURES.—Pursuant to subsection (a), the

16 President shall, at a minimum—

17 ‘‘(1) require the heads of departments and

18 agencies to appoint a senior agency official to direct

19 and administer this title;

20 ‘‘(2) require the heads of departments and

21 agencies to identify by category information origi22 nated by their respective agencies which meets the

23 criteria for classification established by this title,

24 and to issue appropriate regulations, consistent with
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1 this title, to require the classification of such infor2 mation by their employees; and

3 ‘‘(3) require that the systems established by law

4 or regulation for evaluating the performance of civil5 ian or military personnel or contractors include the

6 management and handling of classified information

7 as a critical element or item to be evaluated in the

8 rating of all persons whose duties involve the cre9 ation or handling of such information.

10 ‘‘(c) PROCEDURES WITHIN THE LEGISLATIVE AND

11 JUDICIAL BRANCHES.—After the issuance of the regula12 tions required by subsection (a), the Majority and Minor13 ity Leaders of the Senate, the Speaker and Minority Lead14 er of the House of Representatives, and the Director of

15 the Administrative Office of the United States Courts,

16 shall ensure that procedures exist within their respective

17 bodies to provide comparable protection to information

18 classified pursuant to this title which may be provided by

19 the executive branch for the conduct of their respective

20 functions.

21 ‘‘SEC. 815. EFFECT ON INFORMATION PREVIOUSLY CLASSI22 FIED PURSUANT TO EXECUTIVE ORDER.

23 ‘‘(a) REDESIGNATION NOT REQUIRED.—Information

24 classified pursuant to Executive order before the effective
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1 date of this Act shall retain the classification assigned

2 without redesignation pursuant to section 803 of this title.

3 ‘‘(b) DECLASSIFICATION OF PREVIOUSLY CLASSI4 FIED INFORMATION.—(1) Information previously classi5 fied as ‘CONFIDENTIAL’, pursuant to Executive order,

6 which is subject to a request pursuant to section 809 of

7 this title, shall, if more than 5 years old, be declassified

8 and furnished to the requester. If less than 5 years old,

9 such information shall be treated as ‘SECRET’ informa10 tion for purposes of this title until it reaches 5 years of

11 age and the requester shall be advised of the date of de12 classification.

13 ‘‘(2) Declassification of information previously classi14 fied as ‘SECRET’ or ‘TOP SECRET’, pursuant to Execu15 tive order, in response to a request or review made after

16 the effective date of this title, shall be governed by the

17 provisions of this title, regardless of the duration of classi18 fication or conditions for declassification previously pro19 vided by Executive order.’’.

20 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

21 The amendments made by sections 2 and 3 of this

22 Act shall take effect 1 year after the date of enactment

23 of this Act.

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