Title: Declassification Reform Act of 2020
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Declassification Reform Act of 2020
This bill establishes the position of Executive Agent for Declassification within the executive branch and contains other related provisions.
The agent shall promote programs and systems relating to declassification of classified information, including the development of solutions for automating declassification review. The Director of National Intelligence shall serve as the agent.
The bill also (1) establishes a committee to advise the agent on matters relating to declassification programs and technology; and (2) designates various existing bodies to advise the agent, including the Public Interest Declassification Board and the Office of the Historian of the Department of State.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3733 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3733

   To establish the Executive Agent for Declassification to promote 
 programs, processes, and systems and for directing resources relating 
 to declassification in the Federal Government, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 14, 2020

 Mr. Wyden (for himself and Mr. Moran) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
                        and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To establish the Executive Agent for Declassification to promote 
 programs, processes, and systems and for directing resources relating 
 to declassification in the Federal Government, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Declassification Reform Act of 
2020''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) In his August 16, 2019, letter to the President, the 
        director of the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) 
        wrote the following: ``Today, the Government creates electronic 
        petabytes of classified and controlled unclassified data each 
        month, a deluge that we expect will continue to grow 
        unabated''.
            (2) The director of the Office has identified problems in 
        the declassification system for years, writing in his August 
        16, 2019, letter, ``In my last annual report to you, I 
        emphasized that users of this system inside and outside the 
        Government rightly observe that its current framework is 
        unsustainable and desperately requires modernization. The 
        investment, adoption, and use of advanced technologies lie at 
        the core of this transformation, but we also need new policies 
        and practices that reflect and support the way the Government 
        actually operates in the 21st century''.
            (3) The director of the Office wrote in his August 16, 
        2019, letter the following: ``The Government has not invested 
        in the technologies needed to support electronic information 
        management and information security''.
            (4) In its June 2016 report, the Public Interest 
        Declassification Board (PIDB) wrote the following: ``[n]early 
        all users of the security classification system agree that it 
        is no longer able to handle the current volume and forms of 
        information, especially given the exponential growth of digital 
        information''.
            (5) In its June 2016 report, the Board wrote the following: 
        ``[a]s the PIDB has previously noted in all of our reports, we 
        reaffirm that our most important recommendation for developing 
        and ensuring such a system is the adoption of a government-wide 
        technology investment strategy for the management of classified 
        information.''.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Classification.--The term ``classification'' means the 
        act or process by which information is determined to be 
        classified information.
            (2) Classified national security information or classified 
        information.--The term ``classified national security 
        information'' or ``classified information'' means information 
        that has been determined pursuant to Executive Order 13526 (50 
        U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to classified national security 
        information), or any predecessor or successor order, to require 
        protection against unauthorized disclosure and is marked to 
        indicate its classified status when in documentary form.
            (3) Declassification.--The term ``declassification'' means 
        the authorized change in the status of information from 
        classified information to unclassified information.
            (4) Executive agency.--The term ``Executive agency'' has 
        the meaning given such term in section 105 of title 5, United 
        States Code.

SEC. 4. EXECUTIVE AGENT FOR DECLASSIFICATION.

    (a) Establishment.--There is in the executive branch of the Federal 
Government an Executive Agent for Declassification who shall be 
responsible for promoting programs, processes, and systems relating to 
declassification, including developing technical solutions for 
automating declassification review, and directing resources for such 
purposes in the Federal Government.
    (b) Designation.--The Director of National Intelligence shall serve 
as the Executive Agent for Declassification.
    (c) Duties.--The duties of the Executive Agent for Declassification 
are as follows:
            (1) To promote programs, processes, and systems with the 
        goal of ensuring that declassification activities keep pace 
        with classification activities and that classified information 
        is declassified at such time as it no longer meets the standard 
        for classification.
            (2) To promote the establishment of a federated 
        declassification system to streamline, modernize, and oversee 
        declassification across Executive agencies.
            (3) To direct resources to develop, coordinate, and 
        implement a federated declassification system that includes 
        technologies that automate declassification review and promote 
        consistency in declassification determinations across the 
        executive branch of the Federal Government.
            (4) To work with the Director of the Office of Management 
        and Budget in developing a line item for declassification in 
        each budget of the President that is submitted for a fiscal 
        year under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code.
            (5) To identify and support the development of--
                    (A) best practices for declassification among 
                Executive agencies; and
                    (B) goal oriented declassification pilot programs.
            (6) To promote and implement technological and automated 
        solutions relating to declassification, with human input as 
        necessary for key policy decisions.
            (7) To promote feasible, sustainable, and interoperable 
        programs, processes, and systems to facilitate a federate 
        declassification system.
            (8) To direct the implementation across Executive agencies 
        of the most effective programs and approaches relating to 
        declassification.
            (9) To establish, oversee, and enforce acquisition and 
        contracting policies relating to declassification programs.
            (10) In coordination with the Information Security 
        Oversight Office in the National Archives and Records 
        Administration--
                    (A) to issue policies and directives to the heads 
                of Executive agencies relating to directing resources 
                and making technological investments in 
                declassification that include support for a federated 
                declassification system;
                    (B) to ensure implementation of the policies and 
                directives issued under subparagraph (A);
                    (C) to collect information on declassification 
                practices and policies across Executive agencies, 
                including challenges to effective declassification, 
                training, accounting, and costs associated with 
                classification and declassification;
                    (D) to develop policies for ensuring the accuracy 
                of information obtained from Federal agencies; and
                    (E) to develop accurate and relevant metrics for 
                judging the success of declassification policies and 
                directives.
    (d) Consultation With Executive Committee on Declassification 
Programs and Technology.--In making decisions under this section, the 
Executive Agent for Declassification shall consult with the Executive 
Committee on Declassification Programs and Technology established under 
section 5(a).
    (e) Coordination With the National Declassification Center.--In 
implementing a federated declassification system, the Executive Agent 
for Declassification shall act in coordination with the National 
Declassification Center established by section 3.7(a) of Executive 
Order 13526 (50 U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to classified national 
security information).

SEC. 5. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ON DECLASSIFICATION PROGRAMS AND 
              TECHNOLOGY.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established a committee to provide 
advice and guidance to the Executive Agent for Declassification on 
matters relating to declassification programs and technology.
    (b) Designation.--The committee established by subsection (a) shall 
be known as the ``Executive Committee on Declassification Programs and 
Technology'' (in this section referred to as the ``Committee'').
    (c) Membership.--
            (1) Composition.--The Committee shall be composed of the 
        following:
                    (A) The Director of National Intelligence.
                    (B) The Under Secretary of Defense for 
                Intelligence.
                    (C) The Secretary of Energy.
                    (D) The Secretary of State.
                    (E) The Director of the National Declassification 
                Center.
                    (F) The Director of the Information Security 
                Oversight Board.
                    (G) The Director of the Office of Management and 
                Budget.
                    (H) Such other members as the Executive Agent for 
                Declassification considers appropriate.
            (2) Chairperson.--The chairperson of the Committee shall be 
        the Director of National Intelligence.

SEC. 6. ADVISORY BODIES FOR EXECUTIVE AGENT FOR DECLASSIFICATION.

    (a) Designation of Advisory Bodies.--The following are hereby 
advisory bodies for the Executive Agent for Declassification:
            (1) The Public Interest Declassification Board established 
        by section 703(a) of the Public Interest Declassification Act 
        of 2000 (Public Law 106-567).
            (2) The Office of the Historian of the Department of State.
            (3) The Historical Office of the Secretary of Defense.
            (4) The office of the chief historian of the Central 
        Intelligence Agency.
    (b) Matters Pertaining to the Public Interest Declassification 
Board.--
            (1) Continuity of membership.--Subsection (c)(2) of section 
        703 of the Public Interest Declassification Act of 2000 (Public 
        Law 106-567; 50 U.S.C. 3161 note) is amended by adding at the 
        end the following:
                    ``(E) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this 
                paragraph, a member whose term has expired may continue 
                to serve until a successor is appointed.''.
            (2) Meetings.--Subsection (e) of such section is amended, 
        in the second sentence, by inserting ``appointed'' before 
        ``members''.

SEC. 7. REPORTING.

    (a) Annual Report.--Not later than the end of the first full fiscal 
year beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act and not less 
frequently than once each fiscal year, the Executive Agent for 
Declassification shall submit to Congress and make available to the 
public a report on the implementation of declassification programs and 
processes in the most recently completed fiscal year.
    (b) Coordination.--The report shall be coordinated with the Annual 
Report of the Information Security Oversight Office in the National 
Archives and Records Administration pursuant to Section 5.2(b)(8) of 
Executive Order 13526.
    (c) Contents.--Each report submitted and made available under 
subsection (a) shall include, for the period covered by the report, the 
following:
            (1) The costs incurred by the Federal Government for 
        classification and declassification.
            (2) A description of information systems of the Federal 
        Government and technology programs, processes, and systems of 
        Executive agencies related to declassification.
            (3) A description of the policies and directives issued by 
        the Executive Agent for Declassification and other activities 
        of the Executive Agent for Declassification.
            (4) A description of the challenges posed to Executive 
        agencies in implementing the policies and directives of the 
        Executive Agent for Declassification relating to 
        declassification as well as the policies of the Executive 
        agencies.
            (5) A description of pilot programs and new investments in 
        programs, processes, and systems relating to declassification 
        and metrics of effectiveness for such programs, processes, and 
        systems.
            (6) A description of progress and challenges in achieving 
        the goal described in section 4(c)(1).

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$5,000,000 for fiscal year 2021.
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