II 

Calendar No. 413 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 553 

[Report No. 111–200] 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2009 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

MAY 27 (legislative day, MAY 26), 2010 

Reported by Mr. LIEBERMAN, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

AN ACT 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop 

a strategy to prevent the over-classification of homeland 

security and other information and to promote the sharing of unclassified homeland security and other information, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Reducing Over-Classi5 fication Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) A key conclusion in the Final Report of the 

4 National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the 

5 United States (commonly known as the ‘‘9/11 Com6 mission’’) was the need to prevent over-classification 

7 by the Federal Government. 

8 (2) The 9/11 Commission and others have ob9 served that the over-classification of homeland secu10 rity information interferes with accurate, actionable, 

11 and timely homeland security information sharing, 

12 increases the cost of information security, and need13 lessly limits public access to information. 

14 (3) The over-classification problem, which has 

15 worsened since the 9/11 attacks, causes considerable 

16 confusion about what information can be shared 

17 with whom both internally at the Department of 

18 Homeland Security and with its external partners. 

19 This problem negatively impacts the dissemination 

20 of homeland security information to the Depart21 ment’s State, local, tribal, and territorial homeland 

22 security and law enforcement partners, private sec23 tor customers, and the public. 

24 (4) Excessive government secrecy stands in the 

25 way of a safer and more secure homeland. This 

26 trend is antithetical to the creation and operation of 


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1 the information sharing environment established 

2 under section 1016 of the Intelligence Reform and 

3 Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (6 U.S.C. 485), 

4 and must be halted and reversed. 

5 (5) To do so, the Department should start with 

6 the understanding that all departmental information 

7 that is not properly classified, or marked as con8 trolled unclassified information and otherwise ex9 empt from disclosure, should be made available to 

10 members of the public pursuant to section 552 of 

11 title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as 

12 the ‘‘Freedom of Information Act’’). 

13 (6) The Department should also develop and 

14 administer policies, procedures, and programs that 

15 promote compliance with applicable laws, executive 

16 orders, and other authorities pertaining to the prop17 er use of classification markings and the United 

18 States National Archives and Records Administra19 tion policies implementing them. 

20 SEC. 3. OVER-CLASSIFICATION PREVENTION WITHIN THE 

21 DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY. 

22 Subtitle A of title II of the Homeland Security Act 

23 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

24 the end the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 210F. OVER-CLASSIFICATION PREVENTION PRO2 GRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop and 

4 administer policies, procedures, and programs within the 

5 Department to prevent the over-classification of homeland 

6 security information, terrorism information, weapons of 

7 mass destruction information, and other information with8 in the scope of the information sharing environment estab9 lished under section 1016 of the Intelligence Reform and 

10 Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (6 U.S.C. 485) that 

11 must be disseminated to prevent and to collectively re12 spond to acts of terrorism. The Secretary shall coordinate 

13 with the Archivist of the United States and consult with 

14 representatives of State, local, tribal, and territorial gov15 ernment and law enforcement, organizations with exper16 tise in civil rights, civil liberties, and government over17 sight, and the private sector, as appropriate, to develop 

18 such policies, procedures, and programs. 

19 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than one year after 

20 the date of the enactment of the Reducing Over-Classifica21 tion Act of 2009, the Secretary, in administering the poli22 cies, procedures, and programs required under subsection 

23 (a), shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) create, in consultation with the Archivist 

25 of the United States, standard classified and unclas26 sified formats for finished intelligence products creVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:54 May 28, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\H553.RS H553

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1 ated by the Department, consistent with any govern2 ment-wide standards, practices or procedures for 

3 similar products; 

4 ‘‘(2) require that all finished intelligence prod5 ucts created by the Department be simultaneously 

6 prepared in the standard unclassified format, pro7 vided that such an unclassified product would rea8 sonably be expected to be of any benefit to a State, 

9 local, tribal or territorial government, law enforce10 ment agency or other emergency response provider, 

11 or the private sector, based on input provided by the 

12 Interagency Threat Assessment and Coordination 

13 Group Detail established under section 210D; 

14 ‘‘(3) ensure that such policies, procedures, and 

15 programs protect the national security as well as the 

16 information privacy rights and legal rights of United 

17 States persons pursuant to all applicable law and 

18 policy, including the privacy guidelines for the infor19 mation sharing environment established pursuant to 

20 section 1016 of the Intelligence Reform and Ter21 rorism Prevention Act of 2004 (6 U.S.C. 485), as 

22 appropriate; 

23 ‘‘(4) establish an ongoing auditing mechanism 

24 administered by the Inspector General of the De25 partment or other appropriate senior Department ofVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:54 May 28, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\H553.RS H553

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1 ficial that randomly selects, on a periodic basis, clas2 sified information from each component of the De3 partment that generates finished intelligence prod4 ucts to— 

5 ‘‘(A) assess whether applicable classifica6 tion policies, procedures, rules, and regulations 

7 have been followed; 

8 ‘‘(B) describe any problems with the ad9 ministration of the applicable classification poli10 cies, procedures, rules, and regulations, includ11 ing specific non-compliance issues; 

12 ‘‘(C) recommend improvements in aware13 ness and training to address any problems iden14 tified in subparagraph (B); and 

15 ‘‘(D) report at least annually to the Com16 mittee on Homeland Security of the House of 

17 Representatives, the Committee on Homeland 

18 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen19 ate, and the public, in an appropriate format, 

20 on the findings of the Inspector General’s au21 dits under this section; 

22 ‘‘(5) establish a process whereby employees may 

23 challenge original classification decisions made by 

24 Department employees or contractors and be re25 warded with specific incentives for successful chalVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:54 May 28, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\H553.RS H553

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1 lenges resulting in the removal of classification 

2 markings or the downgrading of them; 

3 ‘‘(6) inform employees and contractors that fail4 ure to comply with the policies, procedures, and pro5 grams established under this section could subject 

6 them to a series of penalties; and 

7 ‘‘(7) institute a series of penalties for employees 

8 and contractors who repeatedly fail to comply with 

9 the policies, procedures, and programs established 

10 under this section after having received both notice 

11 of their noncompliance and appropriate training or 

12 re-training to address such noncompliance. 

13 ‘‘(c) FINISHED INTELLIGENCE PRODUCT DE14 FINED.—The term ‘finished intelligence product’ means a 

15 document in which an intelligence analyst has evaluated, 

16 interpreted, integrated, or placed into context raw intel17 ligence or information.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT OF OVER-CLASSIFICATION PREVEN19 TION WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF HOME20 LAND SECURITY. 

21 Subtitle A of title II of the Homeland Security Act 

22 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121 et seq.) is further amended by add23 ing at the end the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 210G. ENFORCEMENT OF OVER-CLASSIFICATION PRE2 VENTION PROGRAMS. 

3 ‘‘(a) PERSONAL IDENTIFIERS.—The Secretary 

4 shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) assess the technologies available or in use 

6 at the Department by which an electronic personal 

7 identification number or other electronic identifying 

8 marker can be assigned to each Department em9 ployee and contractor with original classification au10 thority in order to— 

11 ‘‘(A) track which documents have been 

12 classified by a particular employee or con13 tractor; 

14 ‘‘(B) determine the circumstances when 

15 such documents have been shared; 

16 ‘‘(C) identify and address over-classifica17 tion problems, including the misapplication of 

18 classification markings to documents that do 

19 not merit such markings; and 

20 ‘‘(D) assess the information sharing im21 pact of any such problems or misuse; 

22 ‘‘(2) develop an implementation plan for a De23 partment standard for such technology with appro24 priate benchmarks, a timetable for its completion, 

25 and cost estimate for the creation and implementa26 tion of a system of electronic personal identification 


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1 numbers or other electronic identifying markers for 

2 all relevant Department employees and contractors; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(3) upon completion of the implementation 

5 plan described in paragraph (2), or not later than 

6 180 days after the date of the enactment of the Re7 ducing Over-Classification Act of 2009, whichever is 

8 earlier, the Secretary shall provide a copy of the 

9 plan to the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

10 House of Representatives and the Committee on 

11 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 

12 Senate. 

13 ‘‘(b) TRAINING.—The Secretary, in coordination with 

14 the Archivist of the United States, shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) require annual training for each Depart16 ment employee and contractor with classification au17 thority or those responsible for analysis, dissemina18 tion, preparation, production, receiving, publishing, 

19 or otherwise communicating written classified infor20 mation, including training to— 

21 ‘‘(A) educate each employee and contractor 

22 about— 

23 ‘‘(i) the Department’s requirement 

24 that all classified finished intelligence prod25 ucts that they create be simultaneously 


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1 prepared in unclassified form in a standard 

2 format prescribed by the Department, pro3 vided that the unclassified product would 

4 reasonably be expected to be of any benefit 

5 to a State, local, tribal, or territorial gov6 ernment, law enforcement agency, or other 

7 emergency response provider, or the pri8 vate sector, based on input provided by the 

9 Interagency Threat Assessment and Co10 ordination Group Detail established under 

11 section 210D; 

12 ‘‘(ii) the proper use of classification 

13 markings, including portion markings; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) the consequences of over-classi15 fication and other improper uses of classi16 fication markings, including the 

17 misapplication of classification markings to 

18 documents that do not merit such mark19 ings, and of failing to comply with the De20 partment’s policies and procedures estab21 lished under or pursuant to this section, 

22 including the negative consequences for the 

23 individual’s personnel evaluation, homeland 

24 security, information sharing, and the 


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1 overall success of the Department’s mis2 sions; 

3 ‘‘(B) serve as a prerequisite, once com4 pleted successfully, as evidenced by an appro5 priate certificate, for— 

6 ‘‘(i) obtaining classification authority; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(ii) renewing such authority annu9 ally; and 

10 ‘‘(C) count as a positive factor, once com11 pleted successfully, in the Department’s employ12 ment, evaluation, and promotion decisions; and 

13 ‘‘(2) ensure that such program is conducted ef14 ficiently, in conjunction with any other security, in15 telligence, or other training programs required by 

16 the Department to reduce the costs and administra17 tive burdens associated with the additional training 

18 required by this section. 

19 ‘‘(c) DETAILEE PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall— 

20 ‘‘(1) implement a Departmental detailee pro21 gram to detail Departmental personnel to the Na22 tional Archives and Records Administration for one 

23 year, for the purpose of— 

24 ‘‘(A) training and educational benefit for 

25 the Department personnel assigned so that they 


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1 may better understand the policies, procedures 

2 and laws governing original classification au3 thorities; 

4 ‘‘(B) bolstering the ability of the National 

5 Archives and Records Administration to con6 duct its oversight authorities over the Depart7 ment and other Departments and agencies; and 

8 ‘‘(C) ensuring that the policies and proce9 dures established by the Secretary remain con10 sistent with those established by the Archivist 

11 of the United States; 

12 ‘‘(2) ensure that the program established under 

13 paragraph (1) includes at least one individual for 

14 each Department office with delegated original clas15 sification authority; and 

16 ‘‘(3) in coordination with the Archivist of the 

17 United States, report to Congress not later than 90 

18 days after the conclusion of the first year of the pro19 gram established under paragraph (1), on— 

20 ‘‘(A) the advisability of expanding the pro21 gram on a government-wide basis, whereby 

22 other departments and agencies would send 

23 detailees to the National Archives and Records 

24 Administration; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the administrative and monetary 

2 costs of full compliance with this section. 

3 ‘‘(d) SUNSET OF DETAILEE PROGRAM.—Except as 

4 otherwise provided by law, subsection (c) shall cease to 

5 have effect on December 31, 2012. 

6 ‘‘(e) FINISHED INTELLIGENCE PRODUCT DE7 FINED.—The term ‘finished intelligence product’ has the 

8 meaning given the term in section 210F(c).’’. 

9 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT. 

10 The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Homeland 

11 Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101(b)) is amended by 

12 adding after the item relating to section 210E the fol13 lowing new items: 

‘‘Sec. 210F. Over-classification prevention program. 

‘‘Sec. 210G. Enforcement of over-classification prevention programs.’’. 

14 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

15 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reducing Over-Classi16 fication Act’’. 

17 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

18 Congress finds the following: 

19 (1) The National Commission on Terrorist At20 tacks Upon the United States (commonly known as 

21 the ‘‘9/11 Commission’’) concluded that there is a 

22 need to prevent over-classification of information by 

23 the Federal Government. 


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1 (2) The 9/11 Commission and others have ob2 served that the over-classification of information 

3 interferes with accurate, actionable, and timely infor4 mation sharing, increases the cost of information se5 curity, and needlessly limits public access to informa6 tion. 

7 (3) Over-classification of information causes con8 siderable confusion about what information may be 

9 shared with whom, and negatively affects the dissemi10 nation of information within the Federal Government 

11 and with State, local, and tribal entities, and the pri12 vate sector. 

13 (4) Excessive government secrecy stands in the 

14 way of a safer and more secure homeland. Over-clas15 sification of information is antithetical to the cre16 ation and operation of the information sharing envi17 ronment established under 1016 of the Intelligence Re18 form and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (6 U.S.C. 

19 485). 

20 (5) Federal departments or agencies authorized 

21 to make original classification decisions or that per22 form derivative classification of information are re23 sponsible for developing, implementing, and admin24 istering policies, procedures, and programs that pro25 mote compliance with applicable laws, executive orVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:54 May 28, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H553.RS H553

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1 ders, and other authorities pertaining to the proper 

2 use of classification markings and the policies of the 

3 National Archives and Records Administration. 

4 SEC. 3. CLASSIFIED INFORMATION ADVISORY OFFICER. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (d) of section 201 of the 

6 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121) is amended 

7 by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(26) To identify and designate, acting through 

9 the Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis, a 

10 Classified Information Advisory Officer to assist 

11 State, local, tribal, and private sector entities that 

12 have responsibility for the security of critical infra13 structure, in matters related to classified materials, as 

14 described in section 210F.’’. 

15 (b) ESTABLISHMENT AND RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title II of the 

17 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 121 et seq.) 

18 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 210F. CLASSIFIED INFORMATION ADVISORY OFFICER. 

20 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT TO ESTABLISH.—The Secretary, 

21 acting through the Under Secretary for Intelligence and 

22 Analysis, shall identify and designate within the Depart23 ment a Classified Information Advisory Officer, as de24 scribed in this section. 


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1 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of the 

2 Classified Information Advisory Officer shall be as follows: 

3 ‘‘(1) To develop and disseminate educational 

4 materials and to develop and administer training 

5 programs to assist State, local, tribal, and private 

6 sector entities with responsibility related to the secu7 rity of critical infrastructure— 

8 ‘‘(A) in developing plans and policies to re9 spond to requests related to classified informa10 tion without communicating such information to 

11 individuals who lack appropriate security clear12 ances; 

13 ‘‘(B) regarding the appropriate procedures 

14 for challenging classification designations of in15 formation received by personnel of such entities; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(C) on the means by which such personnel 

18 may apply for security clearances. 

19 ‘‘(2) To inform the Under Secretary for Intel20 ligence and Analysis on policies and procedures that 

21 could facilitate the sharing of classified information 

22 with such personnel, as appropriate.’’. 

23 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con24 tents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security Act of 


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1 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

2 after the item relating to section 210E the following: 

‘‘Sec. 210F. Classified Information Advisory Officer.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. PROMOTION OF APPROPRIATE ACCESS TO INFOR4 MATION. 

5 Subsection (b) of section 102A of the National Security 

6 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 403–1) is amended— 

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Unless’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following new para9 graph: 

10 ‘‘(2) The Director of National Intelligence shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) consistent with paragraph (1), have access 

12 to all intelligence information, including intelligence 

13 reports, operational data, and other associated infor14 mation, produced by any element of the intelligence 

15 community; and 

16 ‘‘(B) consistent with the protection of intelligence 

17 sources and methods, as determined by the Director— 

18 ‘‘(i) ensure maximum access to the intel19 ligence information referenced in subparagraph 

20 (A) for an employee of a department, agency, or 

21 other entity of the Federal Government or of a 

22 State, local, or tribal government who has an ap23 propriate security clearance; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) provide a mechanism within the Office 

25 of the Director of National Intelligence for the 


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1 Director to direct access to the information ref2 erenced in subparagraph (A) for an employee re3 ferred to in clause (i).’’. 

4 SEC. 5. INTELLIGENCE INFORMATION SHARING. 

5 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDANCE FOR INTELLIGENCE

6 PRODUCTS.—Paragraph (1) of section 102A(g) of the Na7 tional Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 403–1(g)) is amend8 ed— 

9 (1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

10 the end; 

11 (2) in subparagraph (F), by striking the period 

12 at the end and inserting a semicolon and ‘‘and’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(G) in accordance with Executive Order No. 

15 12958, as amended by Executive Order No. 13292 (68 

16 Fed. Reg. 15315; relating to classification of national 

17 security information) (or any subsequent cor18 responding executive order), and parts 2001 and 2004 

19 of title 32, Code of Federal Regulations (or any subse20 quent corresponding regulation), establish— 

21 ‘‘(i) guidance to standardize, in appro22 priate cases, the formats for classified and un23 classified intelligence products created by ele24 ments of the intelligence community for purposes 


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1 of promoting the sharing of intelligence products; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(ii) policies and procedures requiring the 

4 increased use, in appropriate cases, and includ5 ing portion markings, of the classification of 

6 portions of information within one intelligence 

7 product.’’. 

8 (b) CREATION OF UNCLASSIFIED INTELLIGENCE

9 PRODUCTS AS APPROPRIATE FOR STATE, LOCAL, TRIBAL, 

10 AND PRIVATE SECTOR STAKEHOLDERS.—Subsection (g) of 

11 section 102A of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 

12 U.S.C. 403–1) is amended— 

13 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as 

14 paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; and 

15 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(3)(A) If the head of a Federal department or agency 

18 determines that an intelligence product which includes 

19 homeland security information, as defined in section 892(f) 

20 of the Homeland Security Information Sharing Act (6 

21 U.S.C. 482(f)), or terrorism information, as defined in sec22 tion 1016(a) of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Pre23 vention Act of 2004 (6 U.S.C. 485(a)), could likely benefit 

24 a State, local, or tribal government, a law enforcement 

25 agency, or a private sector entity with responsibility for 


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1 the security of critical infrastructure, such head shall share 

2 that intelligence product with the Interagency Threat As3 sessment and Coordination Group established in section 

4 210D(a) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 

5 124k(a)). 

6 ‘‘(B) If the Interagency Threat Assessment and Coordi7 nation Group determines that an intelligence product re8 ferred to in subparagraph (A), or any other intelligence 

9 product that such Group has access to, could likely benefit 

10 a State, local, or tribal government, a law enforcement 

11 agency, or a private sector entity, the Group shall rec12 ommend to the Under Secretary for Intelligence and Anal13 ysis of the Department of Homeland Security that the 

14 Under Secretary produce an intelligence product that is un15 classified or that is classified at the lowest possible level— 

16 ‘‘(i) based on the intelligence product referred to 

17 in subparagraph (A), in a manner consistent with the 

18 guidance established under paragraph (1)(G)(i); and 

19 ‘‘(ii) provide such product to the appropriate en20 tity or agency. 

21 ‘‘(C)(i) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall sub22 mit to the congressional intelligence committees, the Com23 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of 

24 the Senate, and the Committee on Homeland Security of 

25 the House of Representatives an annual report on activities 


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1 carried out under this paragraph. Each such report shall 

2 include a description of— 

3 ‘‘(I) each recommendation made to the Under 

4 Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis under sub5 paragraph (B); 

6 ‘‘(II) each such recommendation that was carried 

7 out by the Under Secretary; and 

8 ‘‘(III) each such recommendation that was not 

9 carried out by the Under Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(ii) The initial report required under clause (i) shall 

11 be submitted not later than 270 days after the date of the 

12 enactment of the Reducing Over-Classification Act and no 

13 reports shall be required under clause (i) after December 

14 31, 2014.’’. 

15 (c) INTERAGENCY THREAT ASSESSMENT AND COORDI16 NATION GROUP ANNUAL REPORT MODIFICATION.—Sub17 section (c) of section 210D of the Homeland Security Act 

18 of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 124k) is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

20 end; 

21 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 

22 the end and inserting a semicolon and ‘‘and’’; and 

23 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(3) in each report required by paragraph (2) 

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1 ducing Over-Classification Act, include a description 

2 of the progress made by the head of each Federal de3 partment and agency to share information with the 

4 ITACG pursuant to section 102A(g)(3)(A) of the Na5 tional Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 403– 

6 1(g)(3)(A)).’’. 

7 SEC. 6. PROMOTION OF ACCURATE CLASSIFICATION OF IN8 FORMATION. 

9 (a) DERIVATIVE CLASSIFICATION AND ORIGINAL CLAS10 SIFICATION DEFINED.—In this section, the terms ‘‘deriva11 tive classification’’ and ‘‘original classification’’ have the 

12 meaning given those terms in Executive Order No. 12958, 

13 as amended by Executive Order No. 13292 (68 Fed. Reg. 

14 15315; relating to classification of national security infor15 mation) (or any subsequent corresponding executive order). 

16 (b) INCENTIVES FOR ACCURATE CLASSIFICATIONS.— 

17 The head of each department or agency of the United States 

18 with an officer or employee who is authorized to make origi19 nal classification decisions or derivative classification deci20 sions shall consider such officer’s or employee’s consistent 

21 and proper classification of information in determining 

22 whether to award any personnel incentive to the officer or 

23 employee. 

24 (c) INSPECTOR GENERAL EVALUATIONS.— 


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1 (1) REQUIREMENT FOR EVALUATIONS.—Not less 

2 frequently than once each year until December 31, 

3 2014, the inspector general of each department or 

4 agency of the United States with an officer or em5 ployee who is authorized to make original classifica6 tions shall carry out an evaluation of that depart7 ment or agency or a component of the department or 

8 agency— 

9 (A) to assess whether applicable classifica10 tion policies, procedures, rules, and regulations 

11 have been adopted, followed, and effectively ad12 ministered within such department, agency, or 

13 component; and 

14 (B) to identify policies, procedures, rules, 

15 regulations, or management practices that may 

16 be contributing to persistent misclassification of 

17 material within such department, agency or 

18 component. 

19 (2) REPORTS.— 

20 (A) REQUIREMENT.—Each inspector gen21 eral who is required to carry out an evaluation 

22 under paragraph (1) shall submit to the appro23 priate entities a report on each such evaluation. 


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1 (B) CONTENT.—Each report submitted 

2 under subparagraph (A) shall include a descrip3 tion of— 

4 (i) the policies, procedures, rules, regu5 lations, or management practices, if any, 

6 identified by the inspector general under 

7 paragraph (1)(B); and 

8 (ii) the recommendations, if any, of the 

9 inspector general to address any such iden10 tified policies, procedures, rules, regulations, 

11 or management practices. 

12 (C) COORDINATION.—The inspectors general 

13 who are required to carry out evaluations under 

14 paragraph (1) shall coordinate with each other 

15 to ensure that evaluations follow a consistent 

16 methodology, as appropriate, that allows for 

17 cross-agency comparisons. 

18 (3) APPROPRIATE ENTITIES DEFINED.—In this 

19 paragraph, the term ‘‘appropriate entities’’ means— 

20 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

21 and Governmental Affairs and the Select Com22 mittee on Intelligence of the Senate; 

23 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security, 

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1 form, and the Permanent Select Committee on 

2 Intelligence of the House of Representatives; 

3 (C) any other committee of Congress with 

4 jurisdiction over a department or agency referred 

5 to in paragraph (1); 

6 (D) the head of a department or agency re7 ferred to in paragraph (1); and 

8 (E) the Director of the Information Secu9 rity Oversight Office. 

10 SEC. 7. CLASSIFICATION TRAINING PROGRAM. 

11 (a) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY DEFINED.—In this 

12 section, the term ‘‘intelligence community’’ has the meaning 

13 given that term in section 3(4) of the National Security 

14 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401a(4)). 

15 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR PROGRAM.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of National In17 telligence, in accordance with Executive Order No. 

18 12958, as amended by Executive Order No. 13292 (68 

19 Fed. Reg. 15315; relating to classification of national 

20 security information) (or any subsequent cor21 responding executive order), shall require annual 

22 training for each employee of an element of the intel23 ligence community and appropriate personnel of each 

24 contractor to an element of the intelligence commu25 nity who has original classification authority, perVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:54 May 28, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H553.RS H553

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26 

•HR 553 RS

1 forms derivative classification, or is responsible for 

2 analysis, dissemination, preparation, production, re3 ceiving, publishing, or otherwise communicating writ4 ten classified information that includes training— 

5 (A) to educate the employee and contractor 

6 personnel regarding— 

7 (i) the guidance established under sub8 paragraph (G)(i) of section 102A(g)(1) of 

9 the National Security Act of 1947 (50 

10 U.S.C. 403–1(g)(1)), as added by section 

11 5(a)(3), regarding the formatting of finished 

12 intelligence products; 

13 (ii) the proper use of classification 

14 markings, including portion markings that 

15 indicate the classification of portions of in16 formation within one intelligence product; 

17 and 

18 (iii) any incentives and penalties re19 lated to the proper classification of intel20 ligence information; and 

21 (B) that is one of the prerequisites, once 

22 completed successfully, as evidenced by an appro23 priate certificate or other record, for— 


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•HR 553 RS

1 (i) obtaining original classification au2 thority or derivatively classifying informa3 tion; and 

4 (ii) maintaining such authority. 

5 (2) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PROGRAMS.—The 

6 Director of National Intelligence shall ensure that the 

7 training required by paragraph (1) is conducted effi8 ciently and in conjunction with any other security, 

9 intelligence, or other training programs required by 

10 elements of the intelligence community to reduce the 

11 costs and administrative burdens associated with car12 rying out the training required by paragraph (1). 


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Calendar No. 413 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 553 

[Report No. 111–200] 

AN ACT 

To require the Secretary of Homeland Security to 

other purposes. land security and other information, and for and to promote the sharing of unclassified hometion of homeland security and other information develop a strategy to prevent the over-classificaMAY 27 (legislative day, MAY 26), 2010 

Reported with an amendment 


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