I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5977 

To improve the classification and declassification of national security 

information, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 17, 2023 

Mr. WENSTRUP (for himself and Ms. SPANBERGER) introduced the following 

bill 

OCTOBER 25, 2023 

Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and in addition 

to the Committees on Intelligence (Permanent Select), and Energy and 

Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To improve the classification and declassification of national 

security 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Sensible Classification Act of 2023’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 


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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings and sense of Congress. 

Sec. 3. Classification authority. 

Sec. 4. Promoting efficient declassification review. 

Sec. 5. Training to promote sensible classification. 

Sec. 6. Improvements to Public Interest Declassification Board. 

Sec. 7. Implementation of technology for classification and declassification. 

Sec. 8. Studies and recommendations on necessity of security clearances. 

Sec. 9. Definitions. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) According to a report released by the Office 

4 of the Director of Intelligence in 2020 titled ‘‘Fiscal 

5 Year 2019 Annual Report on Security Clearance De6 terminations’’, more than 4,000,000 individuals have 

7 been granted eligibility for a security clearance. 

8 (2) At least 1,300,000 of such individuals have 

9 been granted access to information classified at the 

10 Top Secret level. 

11 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con12 gress that— 

13 (1) the classification system of the Federal Gov14 ernment is in urgent need of reform; 

15 (2) the number of people with access to classi16 fied information is exceedingly high and must be jus17 tified or reduced; 

18 (3) reforms are necessary to reestablish trust 

19 between the Federal Government and the people of 

20 the United States; and 


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1 (4) classification should be limited to the min2 imum necessary to protect national security while 

3 balancing the public’s interest in disclosure. 

4 SEC. 3. CLASSIFICATION AUTHORITY. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The authority to classify informa6 tion originally may be exercised only by— 

7 (1) the President and, in the discharge of exec8 utive duties and responsibilities, the Vice President; 

9 (2) the head or any other official of any agency 

10 authorized by the President pursuant to a designa11 tion of such authority in the Federal Register; and 

12 (3) an official of the Federal Government to 

13 whom authority to classify information originally has 

14 been delegated pursuant to subsection (c). 

15 (b) SCOPE OF AUTHORITY.—An individual author16 ized under this section to classify information originally 

17 at a specified level may also classify information originally 

18 at a lower level. 

19 (c) DELEGATION OF ORIGINAL CLASSIFICATION AU20 THORITY.—An official of the Federal Government may be 

21 delegated original classification authority subject to the 

22 following: 

23 (1) Delegation of original classification author24 ity shall be limited to the minimum required to ad25 minister this section. Agency heads shall be responVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:27 Nov 05, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5977.IH H5977

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1 sible for ensuring that designated subordinate offi2 cials have a demonstrable and continuing need to ex3 ercise such authority. 

4 (2) Authority to originally classify information 

5 at the level designated as ‘‘Top Secret’’ may be dele6 gated only by the President, in the performance of 

7 executive duties, the Vice President, or an agency 

8 head or official designated pursuant to subsection 

9 (a)(2). 

10 (3) Authority to originally classify information 

11 at the level designated as ‘‘Secret’’ or ‘‘Confidential’’ 

12 may be delegated only by the President, in the dis13 charge of executive duties and responsibilities, the 

14 Vice President, or an agency head or official des15 ignated pursuant to subsection (a)(2), or the senior 

16 agency official described in section 5.4(d) of Execu17 tive Order 13526 (50 U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to 

18 classified national security information), or successor 

19 order, provided that official has been delegated ‘‘Top 

20 Secret’’ original classification authority by the agen21 cy head. 

22 (4) Each delegation of original classification au23 thority shall be in writing and the authority shall 

24 not be redelegated except as provided by paragraph 


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1 (1), (2), or (3). Each delegation shall identify the of2 ficial by name or position title. 

3 (d) TRAINING REQUIRED.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual may not be 

5 delegated original classification authority under this 

6 section unless the individual has first received train7 ing described in paragraph (2). 

8 (2) TRAINING DESCRIBED.—Training described 

9 in this paragraph is training on original classifica10 tion that includes instruction on the proper safe11 guarding of classified information and of the crimi12 nal, civil, and administrative sanctions that may be 

13 brought against an individual who fails to protect 

14 classified information from unauthorized disclosure. 

15 (e) EXCEPTIONAL CASES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—When an employee, con17 tractor, licensee, certificate holder, or grantee of an 

18 agency who does not have original classification au19 thority originates information believed by that em20 ployee, contractor, licensee, certificate holder, or 

21 grantee to require classification, the information 

22 shall be protected in a manner consistent with Exec23 utive Order 13526 (50 U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to 

24 classified national security information), or successor 

25 order. 


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1 (2) TRANSMISSION.—An employee, contractor, 

2 licensee, certificate holder, or grantee described in 

3 paragraph (1), who originates information described 

4 in such paragraph, shall promptly transmit such in5 formation to— 

6 (A) the head of the agency that has appro7 priate subject matter interest and classification 

8 authority with respect to the information; or 

9 (B) if it is not clear which agency has ap10 propriate subject matter interest and classifica11 tion authority with respect to the information, 

12 to the Director of the Information Security 

13 Oversight Office of the National Archives and 

14 Records Administration. 

15 (3) INFORMATION SECURITY OVERSIGHT OF16 FICE ACTION.—If the Director of the Information 

17 Security Oversight Office receives information under 

18 paragraph (2)(B), the Director shall determine 

19 which agency has appropriate subject matter interest 

20 and classification authority and submit the informa21 tion, with appropriate recommendations, to the head 

22 of that agency for a classification determination. 

23 (4) TIMING OF DETERMINATIONS.—Not later 

24 than 30 days after the head of agency receives infor25 mation pursuant to paragraph (2)(A) or (3), the 


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1 head shall make a determination as to whether to 

2 classify the information. 

3 SEC. 4. PROMOTING EFFICIENT DECLASSIFICATION RE4 VIEW. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the head of an agency 

6 is processing a request pursuant to section 552 of title 

7 5, United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Freedom 

8 of Information Act’’) or the mandatory declassification re9 view provisions of Executive Order 13526 (50 U.S.C. 3161 

10 note; relating to classified national security information), 

11 or successor order, and identifies responsive classified 

12 records that are more than 25-years-of-age as of Decem13 ber 31 of the year in which the request is received, the 

14 head of the agency shall review the record and process 

15 the record for declassification and release by the National 

16 Declassification Center of the National Archives and 

17 Records Administration. 

18 (b) APPLICATION.—Subsection (a) shall apply— 

19 (1) regardless of whether or not the record de20 scribed in such subsection is in the legal custody of 

21 the National Archives and Records Administration; 

22 and 

23 (2) without regard for any other provisions of 

24 law or existing agreements or practices between 

25 agencies. 


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1 SEC. 5. TRAINING TO PROMOTE SENSIBLE CLASSIFICA2 TION. 

3 (a) TRAINING REQUIRED.—Each head of an agency 

4 with classification authority shall conduct training for em5 ployees of such agency with classification authority to dis6 courage over-classification and to promote sensible classi7 fication. 

8 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) OVER-CLASSIFICATION.—The term ‘‘over10 classification’’ means classification at a level that ex11 ceeds the minimum level of classification that is suf12 ficient to protect the national security of the United 

13 States. 

14 (2) SENSIBLE CLASSIFICATION.—The term 

15 ‘‘sensible classification’’ means classification at a 

16 level that is the minimum level of classification that 

17 is sufficient to protect the national security of the 

18 United States. 

19 SEC. 6. IMPROVEMENTS TO PUBLIC INTEREST DECLAS20 SIFICATION BOARD. 

21 Section 703 of the Public Interest Declassification 

22 Act of 2000 (50 U.S.C. 3355a) is amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(5) A member of the Board whose term has expired 

2 may continue to serve until a successor is appointed and 

3 sworn in.’’; and 

4 (2) in subsection (f)— 

5 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Any em6 ployee’’; and 

7 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(2) In addition to any employees detailed to the 

9 Board under paragraph (1), the Board may hire not more 

10 than 12 staff members.’’. 

11 SEC. 7. IMPLEMENTATION OF TECHNOLOGY FOR CLASSI12 FICATION AND DECLASSIFICATION. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

15 the Office of Electronic Government of the Office of Man16 agement and Budget (in this section referred to as the 

17 ‘‘Administrator’’), in consultation with the Secretary of 

18 Defense, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, 

19 the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the 

20 Information Security Oversight Office, the head of the Na21 tional Declassification Center of the National Archives 

22 and Records Administration, and the Public Interest De23 classification Board, shall— 

24 (1) research a technology-based solution— 


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1 (A) using machine learning and artificial 

2 intelligence to support efficient and effective 

3 systems for classification and declassification; 

4 and 

5 (B) to be implemented on an interoperable 

6 and federated basis across the Federal Govern7 ment; and 

8 (2) submit to the President a recommendation 

9 regarding a technology-based solution described in 

10 paragraph (1) that should be adopted by the Federal 

11 Government. 

12 (b) STAFF.—The Administrator may hire sufficient 

13 staff to carry out subsection (a). 

14 (c) REPORT.— 

15 (1) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 540 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

17 President shall submit to Congress a report on the 

18 technology-based solution recommended by the Ad19 ministrator under subsection (a)(2) and the deter20 mination of the President regarding its adoption. 

21 (2) FORM.—The report under paragraph (1) 

22 may be submitted in classified form. 


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1 SEC. 8. STUDIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON NECESSITY 

2 OF SECURITY CLEARANCES. 

3 (a) STUDIES ON NECESSITY OF SECURITY CLEAR4 ANCES.— 

5 (1) STUDIES REQUIRED.—The head of each 

6 agency that grants security clearances to personnel 

7 of such agency shall conduct a study on the neces8 sity of such security clearances. 

9 (2) REPORTS REQUIRED.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

12 each head of an agency that conducts a study 

13 under paragraph (1) shall submit to Congress 

14 a report on the findings of the head with re15 spect to such study, which the head may clas16 sify as appropriate. 

17 (B) REQUIRED ELEMENTS.—Each report 

18 submitted by the head of an agency under sub19 paragraph (A) shall include, for such agency, 

20 the following: 

21 (i) The number of personnel eligible 

22 for access to information up to the Top Se23 cret level. 

24 (ii) The number of personnel eligible 

25 for access to information up to the Secret 

26 level. 


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1 (iii) Information on the any reduction 

2 in the number of personnel eligible for ac3 cess to classified information based on the 

4 study conducted under paragraph (1). 

5 (iv) A description of how the head will 

6 ensure that the number of security clear7 ances granted by such agency will be kept 

8 to the minimum required for the conduct 

9 of agency functions, commensurate with 

10 the size, needs, and mission of the agency. 

11 (3) INDUSTRY.—This subsection shall apply to 

12 the Secretary of Defense in the capacity of such Sec13 retary as the Executive Agent for the National In14 dustrial Security Program. The Secretary of Defense 

15 shall treat contractors, licensees, and grantees as 

16 personnel of the Department of Defense for pur17 poses of the studies and reports required by this 

18 subsection. 

19 (b) DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE REVIEW

20 OF SENSITIVE COMPARTMENTED INFORMATION.—The 

21 Director of National Intelligence shall— 

22 (1) review the number of personnel eligible for 

23 access to sensitive compartmented information; and 


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1 (2) submit to Congress a report on how the Di2 rector will ensure that the number of such personnel 

3 is limited to the minimum required. 

4 (c) AGENCY REVIEW OF SPECIAL ACCESS PRO5 GRAMS.—Each head of an agency who is authorized to es6 tablish a special access program by Executive Order 

7 13526 (50 U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to classified na8 tional security information), or successor order, shall— 

9 (1) review the number of personnel of the agen10 cy eligible for access to such special access pro11 grams; and 

12 (2) submit to Congress a report on how the 

13 head will ensure that the number of such personnel 

14 is limited to the minimum required. 

15 (d) SECRETARY OF ENERGY REVIEW OF Q AND L 

16 CLEARANCES.—The Secretary of Energy shall— 

17 (1) review the number of personnel of the De18 partment of Energy granted Q and L access; and 

19 (2) submit to Congress a report on how the 

20 Secretary will ensure that the number of such per21 sonnel is limited to the minimum required. 

22 (e) INDEPENDENT REVIEWS.—Not later than 180 

23 days after the date on which a study is completed under 

24 subsection (a) or a review is completed under subsections 

25 (b) through (d), the Director of the Information Security 


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1 Oversight Office of the National Archives and Records Ad2 ministration, the Director of National Intelligence, and the 

3 Public Interest Declassification Board shall each review 

4 the study or review, as the case may be. 

5 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

8 meaning given the term ‘‘Executive agency’’ in sec9 tion 105 of title 5, United States Code. 

10 (2) CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.—The term 

11 ‘‘classified information’’ means information that has 

12 been determined pursuant to Executive order 12958 

13 (50 U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to classified national 

14 security information), or successor order, to require 

15 protection against unauthorized disclosure and is 

16 marked to indicate its classified status when in doc17 umentary form. 

18 (3) CLASSIFICATION.—The term ‘‘classifica19 tion’’ means the act or process by which information 

20 is determined to be classified information. 

21 (4) DECLASSIFICATION.—The term ‘‘declas22 sification’’ means the authorized change in the sta23 tus of information from classified information to un24 classified information. 


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1 (5) DOCUMENT.—The term ‘‘document’’ means 

2 any recorded information, regardless of the nature of 

3 the medium or the method or circumstances of re4 cording. 

5 (6) DOWNGRADE.—The term ‘‘downgrade’’ 

6 means a determination by a declassification author7 ity that information classified and safeguarded at a 

8 specified level shall be classified and safeguarded at 

9 a lower level. 

10 (7) INFORMATION.—The term ‘‘information’’ 

11 means any knowledge that can be communicated or 

12 documentary material, regardless of its physical 

13 form or characteristics, that is owned by, is pro14 duced by or for, or is under the control of the 

15 United States Government. 

16 (8) ORIGINATE, ORIGINATING, AND ORIGI17 NATED.—The term ‘‘originate’’, ‘‘originating’’, and 

18 ‘‘originated’’, with respect to classified information 

19 and an authority, means the authority that classified 

20 the information in the first instance. 

21 (9) RECORDS.—The term ‘‘records’’ means the 

22 records of an agency and Presidential papers or 

23 Presidential records, as those terms are defined in 

24 title 44, United States Code, including those created 

25 or maintained by a government contractor, licensee, 


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1 certificate holder, or grantee that are subject to the 

2 sponsoring agency’s control under the terms of the 

3 contract, license, certificate, or grant. 

4 (10) SECURITY CLEARANCE.—The term ‘‘secu5 rity clearance’’ means an authorization to access 

6 classified information. 

7 (11) UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE.—The term 

8 ‘‘unauthorized disclosure’’ means a communication 

9 or physical transfer of classified information to an 

10 unauthorized recipient. 

11 (12) UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION.—The term 

12 ‘‘unclassified information’’ means information that is 

13 not classified information. 

Æ 


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