REPORT
of the
COMMISSION ON
PROTECTING AND REDUCING
GOVERNMENT SECRECY
1997
SENATE DOCUMENT 105-2
PURSUANT TO PUBLIC LAW 236
103RD CONGRESS
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1997
Chairman
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, New York
Vice Chairman
Larry Combest, Texas
Commission Members
Jesse Helms, North Carolina
Lee H. Hamilton, Indiana
John M. Deutch, Massachusetts
Martin C. Faga, Virginia
Alison B. Fortier, Maryland
Richard K. Fox, District of Columbia
Ellen Hume, District of Columbia
Samuel P. Huntington, Massachusetts
John D. Podesta, District of Columbia
Maurice Sonnenberg, New York
Contents
Preliminary Pages
Table of Contents and Figures and Tables
Summary of Findings and Recommendations
Chairman's Foreword
Vice Chairman's Foreword
- I. Overview: Protecting Secrets and Reducing Secrecy:
- Commission Purposes and Objectives
- Secrecy Issues Not Addressed by the Commission
- Defining Government Secrecy
- The Means for Protecting Government Secrets
- The Importance of Protecting Secrets
- The Intangible Costs of Secrecy
- Efforts to Quantify the Costs of Secrecy
- Evolving Concepts of National Security
- A Statutory Basis for the Secrecy System
- The Case for a Statutory Approach
- A Proposed Statute
- Conclusion
- II. Rethinking Classification: Better Protection and Greater Openness
- Toward a Life Cycle Approach to Classification Management
- The Secrecy System
- Bases for Classification
- A Half Century of Executive Orders
- Protection of Sources and Methods
- Protection Under the Atomic Energy Act
- Living With Ambiguity: The Levels of Classification
- Controlling Access to Secrets: The "Need-to-Know" Principle
- Clarifying Security in Special Access Programs
- Protecting Other Government Information
- The Classifiers
- Original Classification Authorities: The Linchpin of Classification
- Derivative Classifiers: Enhancing Accountability Where it Matters
- Developing Better Classification Guides
- Improving the Training and Education of Classifiers
- The Key to Better Classification: The Initial Decision to Classify
- The Importance of the Initial Decision
- Improving the Initial Decision
- Enhancing Implementation and Oversight
- A Greater Role for the Congress
- The Focal Point: Executive Branch Policy Development and Oversight
- Policy Development: Who's in Charge?
- Oversight: The Critical Missing Link
- A New Approach to Policy Development and Oversight
- Strengthening Implementation and Oversight Within Agencies
- Conclusion
- III. Common Sense Declassification and Public Access:
- Why Public Access Matters
- Promising Developments: Declassification Success Stories
- Unnecessary Secrecy Persists
- Sensible Risk Management
- Continuing Barriers to Declassification and Public Access
- Declassification Under Past Executive Orders
- Executive Order 12958: A Renewed Focus on Declassification
- Declassification and the Freedom of Information Act
- How Much Is Still Classified?
- How Long Does It Take Before Information Is Declassified
- How Much Does Declassification Cost
- The Impact of Agency Equities: Multiple Agency Reviews Mean Multiple Delays
- The Current State of Agency Records Management
- Agency Attitudes Affect Public Access
- Public Access in the Information Age
- Adequate Oversight Is Crucical to Sensible Declassification Policies
- Recommendations for Improving Declassification and Public Access
- Establishing A National Declassification Center to Coordinate Public Access Policy
- Clarifying Protection of Sources and Methods Information
- Improving Records Management and Other Agency Practices to Promote Public Access
- Conclusion
- IV. Personnel Security: Protection Through Detection:
- Overview of the Personnel Security Process
- The Background Investigation
- Types of Investigations
- Investigative Costs
- The Adjudication
- Improving the Current System
- Modernizing the System's Cold War Foundations
- Increasing Clearance Reciprocity and Standardization
- Enhancing Investigative Quality
- Reducing Inefficiencies in the Processing of Cases
- Addressing Transparency and Due Process Concerns
- Allocating Resources More Effectively
- Strengthening Employee Assistance Programs
- Assessing the Value of Financial Disclosure
- Advancing Polygraph Research
- Making the Clearance Process More Efficient Through Automation
- Conclusion
- V. Information Age Insecurity:
- Federal Government Information Security and the National Information Infrastructure
- The Growing Threat to Information Systems Security
- The Improving Federal Response
- Improving Oversight Mechanisms
- Enhancing Executive Branch Oversight and Policy Formulation
- Enhancing Congressional Oversight and Policy Formulation
- Addressing Current Problems
- Preventing Redundancies in Technology Development
- Promoting Government-Industry Cooperation
- Discouraging the Use of Classification as an Alternative to Effective Information Systems Security
- Encouraging Greater Accountability and Leadership
- Planning for the Future
- Disseminating Threat Information
- Increasing Awareness of Computer Attacks
- Developing Auditing and Intrusion Detection Capabilities
- Including Security in Automation Projects
- Professionalizing Information Systems Security
- Strengthening Information Technology Training and Awareness
- Conclusion
- VI. Appendices:
- A. Secrecy: A Brief Account of the American Experience
- Secrecy as Regulation
- The Experience of the First World War
- Loyalty
- The Encounter with Communism
- The Experience of the Second World War
- The Experience of The Bomb
- The Cold War
- A Culture of Secrecy
- After the Fall
- B. Commission's Authorizing Statute
- C. Summary Recommendations
- D. Biographical Information
- E. Acknowledgments
- F. List of Commission Meetings and Programs
- G. Major Reviews of the U.S. Secrecy System
- H. Acronyms and Abbreviations
|