I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4855 

To establish an Independent National Security Classification Board in the 

executive branch, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 19, 2004 

Mr. CRAMER (for himself and Mr. BOSWELL) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Select Committee on Intelligence (Permanent Select) 

A BILL 

To establish an Independent National Security Classification 

Board in the executive branch, 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 ‘‘Independent National 

5 Security Classification Board Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to establish in the execu8 tive branch an Independent National Security Classifica9 tion Board— 
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1 (1) to review the standards and procedures 

2 used in the classification system for national security 

3 information; 

4 (2) to propose and submit to Congress and the 

5 President for comment new standards and proce6 dures to be used in the classification system for such 

7 information; 

8 (3) to establish the new standards and proce9 dures after Congress and the President have had the 

10 opportunity to comment; and 

11 (4) to review, and make recommendations with 

12 respect to, classifications of current and new infor13 mation made under the applicable classification sys14 tem. 

15 SEC. 3. INDEPENDENT NATIONAL SECURITY CLASSIFICA16 TION BOARD. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Independent National 

18 Security Classification Board (in this Act referred to as 

19 the ‘‘Board’’) is established as an independent agency in 

20 the executive branch. 

21 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall be composed of 

22 one member appointed by the President, one member 

23 jointly recommended by the Majority Leader and the Mi24 nority Leader of the Senate and appointed by the Presi25 dent, and one member jointly recommended by the Speak-
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1 er of the House of Representatives and the Minority Lead2 er of the House of Representatives and appointed by the 

3 President, each by and with the advice and consent of the 

4 Senate. Each member shall be knowledgeable on classifica5 tion matters. 

6 (c) TERM OF MEMBERS.—Each member of the Board 

7 shall be appointed for a term of 5 years. A member may 

8 be reappointed for one additional 5-year term. A member 

9 whose term has expired shall continue to serve on the 

10 Board until a replacement has been appointed. 

11 (d) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Board shall not 

12 affect its powers, but shall be filled in the same manner 

13 as the original appointment. 

14 (e) SEPARATE OFFICE.—The Board shall have its 

15 own office for carrying out its activities, and shall not 

16 share office space with any element of the intelligence 

17 community or with any other department or agency of the 

18 Federal Government. 

19 (f) CHAIRMAN.—The Board shall select a Chairman 

20 from among its members. 

21 (g) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet at the call of 

22 the Chairman. 

23 (h) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the 

24 Board shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number of 

25 members may hold hearings. 
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1 (i) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—The decision2 making process of the Board may be classified, but the 

3 final decisions of the Board and the reports submitted 

4 under this Act shall be made available to the public. 

5 (j) INITIAL APPOINTMENTS AND MEETING.— 

6 (1) INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—Initial appoint7 ments of members of the Board shall be made not 

8 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

9 of this Act. 

10 (2) INITIAL MEETING.—The Board shall hold 

11 its first meeting not later than 30 days after the 

12 date on which all members of the Board have been 

13 appointed. 

14 (k) WEBSITE.—The Board shall establish a website 

15 not later than 90 days after the date on which all members 

16 of the Board have been appointed. 

17 SEC. 4. DUTIES OF BOARD. 

18 (a) REVIEW OF CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall conduct a 

20 thorough review of the classification system for na21 tional security information, including the policy, pro22 cedures, and practices of the system. The Board 

23 shall recommend reforms of such system to ensure— 

24 (A) the protection of the national security 

25 of the United States; 
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1 (B) the sharing of information among Gov2 ernment agencies; and 

3 (C) an open and informed public discussion 

4 of national security issues. 

5 (2) SCOPE OF REVIEW.— 

6 (A) CONSULTATION.—The Board shall 

7 consult with the Select Committee on Intel8 ligence, the Committee on Armed Services, and 

9 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Sen10 ate and the Permanent Select Committee on In11 telligence, the Committee on Armed Services, 

12 and the Committee on International Relations 

13 of the House of Representatives in determining 

14 the scope of its review of the classification sys15 tem. 

16 (B) REVIEW.—The Board shall submit a 

17 report describing the proposed scope of review 

18 to the President and the committees of Con19 gress referred to in subparagraph (A) for com20 ment. 

21 (C) REVISIONS.—Not later than 30 days 

22 after receiving the report under subparagraph 

23 (B)— 
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1 (i) the President shall notify the 

2 Board in writing of any revisions to such 

3 scope of review; and 

4 (ii) each committee of Congress re5 ferred to in subparagraph (A) may submit 

6 to the Board, in writing, any comments of 

7 the committee on the proposed scope of re8 view. 

9 (b) ADOPTION OF NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMA10 TION CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM.— 

11 (1) AUTHORITY.—The Board shall prescribe 

12 the classification system for national security infor13 mation, which shall apply to all departments and 

14 agencies of the United States. 

15 (2) FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The 

16 Board shall, in accordance with the scope of review 

17 developed under subsection (a)(2), review the classi18 fication system for national security information and 

19 submit to the President and Congress its findings 

20 and recommendations for new procedures and stand21 ards to be used in such classification system. 

22 (3) CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM.—Not later than 

23 180 days after the date on which all members of the 

24 Board have been confirmed by the Senate, the 

25 Board shall adopt a classification system for na-
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1 tional security information, incorporating any com2 ments received from the President and considering 

3 any comments received from Congress. Upon the 

4 adoption of the classification system, the system 

5 shall be used for the classification of all national se6 curity information. 

7 (c) REVIEW OF CLASSIFICATION DECISIONS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall, upon its 

9 own initiative or pursuant to a request under para10 graph (3), review any classification decision made by 

11 an Executive agency with respect to national secu12 rity information. 

13 (2) ACCESS.—The Board shall have access to 

14 all documents or other materials that are classified 

15 on the basis of containing national security informa16 tion. 

17 (3) REQUESTS FOR REVIEW.—The Board shall 

18 review in a timely manner the existing or proposed 

19 classification of any document or other material the 

20 review of which is requested by— 

21 (A) the head or Inspector General of an 

22 Executive agency who is an authorized holder of 

23 such document or material; or 

24 (B) the chairman or ranking member of— 
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1 (i) the Committee on Armed Services, 

2 the Committee on Foreign Relations, or 

3 the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

4 Senate; or 

5 (ii) the Committee on Armed Services, 

6 the Committee on International Relations, 

7 or the Permanent Select Committee on In8 telligence of the House of Representatives. 

9 (4) RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Board may make 

11 recommendations to the President regarding de12 cisions to classify all or portions of documents 

13 or other material for national security purposes 

14 or to declassify all or portions of documents or 

15 other material classified for such purposes. 

16 (B) IMPLEMENTATION.—Upon receiving a 

17 recommendation from the Board under sub18 paragraph (A), the President shall either— 

19 (i) accept and implement such rec20 ommendation; or 

21 (ii) not later than 60 days after re22 ceiving the recommendation if the Presi23 dent does not accept and implement such 

24 recommendation, transmit in writing to 

25 Congress and have posted on the Board’s 
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1 website a notification in unclassified form 

2 of the justification for the President’s deci3 sion not to implement such recommenda4 tion. 

5 (5) EXEMPTION FROM FREEDOM OF INFORMA6 TION ACT.—The Board shall not be required to 

7 make documents or materials reviewed under this 

8 subsection available to the public under section 552 

9 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to 

10 as the Freedom of Information Act). 

11 (6) REGULATIONS.—The Board shall prescribe 

12 regulations to carry out this subsection. 

13 (7) EXECUTIVE AGENCY DEFINED.—In this sec14 tion, the term ‘‘Executive agency’’ has the meaning 

15 given that term in section 105 of title 5, United 

16 States Code. 

17 SEC. 5. POWERS OF BOARD. 

18 (a) HEARINGS.—The Board may hold such hearings, 

19 sit and act at such times and places, take such testimony, 

20 and receive such evidence as the Board considers advisable 

21 to carry out this Act. 

22 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The 

23 Board may secure directly from any Federal department 

24 or agency such information as the Board considers nec25 essary to carry out this Act. Upon request of the Chair-
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1 man of the Board, the head of such department or agency 

2 shall furnish such information to the Board. 

3 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon re4 quest of the Board, the Administrator of General Services 

5 shall provide to the Board, on a reimbursable basis, the 

6 administrative support necessary for the Board to carry 

7 out its duties under this Act. 

8 (d) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Board may use the 

9 United States mails in the same manner and under the 

10 same conditions as other departments and agencies of the 

11 Federal Government. 

12 (e) GIFTS.—The Board may accept, use, and dispose 

13 of gifts or donations of services or property. 

14 SEC. 6. BOARD PERSONNEL MATTERS. 

15 (a) EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE LEVEL IV.—Section 

16 5315 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding 

17 at the end the following: ‘‘Members, Independent National 

18 Security Classification Board.’’. 

19 (b) STAFF.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairman of the Board 

21 may, without regard to the civil service laws and 

22 regulations, appoint and terminate an executive di23 rector and such other additional personnel as may be 

24 necessary to enable the Board to perform its duties 
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1 under this Act. The employment of an executive di2 rector shall be subject to confirmation by the Board. 

3 (2) COMPENSATION.—The Chairman of the 

4 Board may fix the compensation of the executive di5 rector and other personnel without regard to chapter 

6 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, 

7 United States Code, relating to classification of posi8 tions and General Schedule pay rates, except that 

9 the rate of pay for the executive director and other 

10 personnel may not exceed the rate payable for level 

11 V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of 

12 such title. 

13 (c) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Any 

14 employee of the Federal Government may be detailed to 

15 the Board without reimbursement, and such detail shall 

16 be without interruption or loss of civil service status or 

17 privilege. 

18 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

19 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Board 

20 $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2005, and such sums as may 

21 be necessary thereafter. 

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