Obama Orders Review Of Government Secrecy

President Looks To Review System Of Classifying Information, Put More In Public Domain

(AP)  Expanding his drive to open government, President Obama is ordering two studies of whether the government is classifying too much information and using too many different ways to keep it from public view.

He wants the answers in just 90 days, and it's no secret which way he's leaning.

In a memo Wednesday, Mr. Obama ordered national security adviser James L. Jones to consult relevant agencies and recommend revisions in the existing presidential order on national security classification that lays out the rules under which agencies can stamp documents "confidential," "secret" or "top secret."

That same memo also ordered Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to set up a governmentwide task force on standardizing so-called controlled but unclassified information. This is data with stamps like "for official use only" or "limited official distribution" that are not authorized by the executive order but have grown up over the years to keep sensitive data from the public even if it doesn't meet standards for national security classification.

Mr. Obama noted that there are now 107 different stamps for such data, also known as "sensitive but unclassified" information, and 130 different procedures for applying those stamps. He said a 2008 order by former President George W. Bush had "a salutary effect" in establishing a framework to begin standardizing these designations for sensitive terrorism-related data, but he asked the task force to recommend whether that work should be expanded to cover all sensitive but unclassified information governmentwide.

The tone of the memo suggested Obama thought a governmentwide effort would be a good idea. Mr. Obama also directed this group to study the procedures for handling sensitive but unclassified data to be sure that "information is not restricted unless there is a compelling need."

While Mr. Obama didn't order any changes in government secrecy Wednesday, his memo contained language and set agendas for the two studies that hinted strongly at moves he might take. It was greeted with cheers from open government advocates who have long argued that government classifies too much information.

Echoing language he used earlier to open more government information to the public under the Freedom of Information Act, Mr. Obama said "a democratic government must be as transparent as possible and must not withhold information for self-serving reasons or simply to avoid embarrassment."

Thomas Blanton, director of the National Security Archive, a private group that gathers and publishes declassified government documents and lobbies for more open government, applauded the memo.

"Sure, we could have hoped for the president to make decisions today," Blanton said, "but this is warp speed in bureaucratic terms." He noted that former President Bill Clinton took three years to revise the executive order on classification.

Blanton said the tasks assigned to the two studies and language in the memo make clear "the president's gut is in the right place. He's opting for transparency. This is about as clear a signal as you can get in a bureaucratic environment."

Among the tasks Mr. Obama set for Jones' study was to recommend whether to set up a National Declassification Center where officials from various agencies could work together on declassification of documents. Currently, there is a backlog of 51 million pages, scheduled for automatic declassification on Dec. 31, that have not been completely reviewed for release because the material had to be referred to as many as 10 different agencies for evaluation.

Mr. Obama also asked Jones to recommend whether to restore Clinton's "presumption against classification," that would bar classifying documents when there is significant doubt about the need for it. Bush eliminated that presumption.

And Mr. Obama asked Jones to recommend changes to increase sharing of classified information among appropriate agencies and to prohibit reclassification of material already released to the public properly. Blanton's group found that between 1999 and 2006, more than 150,000 publicly available pages had been reclassified governmentwide.

[credibility2]

If anyone really believes that under the Obama Regime, its own brand of government secrecy and document classification won't also exist, is a really dunderhead and nincompoop. They're also naive and ignorant.

[PVperson2]

Johnnie, your little tinfoil hat is slipping.

[inventagod]

Listening to the NeoCon rubes running around having tantrums is so funny - Pres. Obama is a breath of fresh air!

[clowry1611]

next President Obama will announce it is wrong for us to spy on other countries.

[reasoned1955]

For starters, the title is President Obama, not Mr. Obama. The author of this article needs a refresher course on proper etiquette when addressing a public official.
Posted by PriderockT at 6:59 AM : May 28, 2009
==============
I think that since the author used the title the first time President Obama was mentioned in the article, it is acceptable to refer to him as Mr. Obama through remainder of the article. I have asked for confirmation/clarification. I'll post what I find out.

[PriderockT]

For starters, the title is President Obama, not Mr. Obama. The author of this article needs a refresher course on proper etiquette when addressing a public official.

[reasoned1955]

The fact of the matter is that you are wrong about the executive order number 12958.

In 1995, United States President William J. Clinton signed Executive Order 12958 which created new standards for the process of classifying documents and led to an unprecedented effort to declassify millions of pages from the U.S. diplomatic and national security history. This policy has resulted in the declassification of what were 800 million pages of historically valuable records, with the potential of hundreds of millions more being declassified in the near future.
Posted by gramto8 at 6:17 AM : May 28, 2009
====================
Please don't insult the intelligent folks here (Dem, Repub, or independent). You've cited Wikipedia (good job). E.O. 12958 has existed in one form or another, as I said, for decades. There have been frequent updates and changes as new administrations assume office. This is one area where you really don't want to take me on...I deal with it daily. Trying to put a pro-Dem spin on the topic is doing all of us a disservice. Let's just acknowledge that B.O. is doing what other executives have done in the past. I certainly can't fault him for wanting an E.O. that he signs to reflect his policies and agenda. Here's a little something for you from the ISOO (Information Security Oversight Office). I don't mean to pick a fight, but your comments cannot stand.

Largely prescribed in a series of successive presidential
executive orders issued over the past 50 years, security classification policy and
procedure provide the rationale and arrangements for designating information officially
secret for reasons of national security, and for its declassification as well.

[jackp32]

Hey Pres. You can start the ball rolling by ordering the release of all files still held in secret in connection with the assassination of President Kennedy. We would like to see the entire unredacted files including the one that reveals that Lee Harvey Oswald was a paid contract employee of the CIA. Although the CIA stated to the Warren Commission that they did not have a file nor was Oswald an employee of any kind, we want all of the cross referenced files where Oswald's name is mentioned. The Warren Commission conveniently did not ask for those files and they were never produced as were hundreds or even thousands of files connected to the assassination. Why are these files still held in secret 46 years later? The coverup continues.

[gramto8]

...SNIP...The fact of the matter is that E.O. 12958 and its related E.O.s have been around for decades and decades.....SNIP

Posted by reasoned1955 at 5:15 AM : May 28, 2009

The fact of the matter is that you are wrong about the executive order number 12958.

In 1995, United States President William J. Clinton signed Executive Order 12958 which created new standards for the process of classifying documents and led to an unprecedented effort to declassify millions of pages from the U.S. diplomatic and national security history. This policy has resulted in the declassification of what were 800 million pages of historically valuable records, with the potential of hundreds of millions more being declassified in the near future.

[scribble-jpc]

My favorite story about left wing Clinton Dems giving away the national secrets was how a Bush reclassifier found a CIA report in the National Archives about protests and possible assination attempts during a presidental visit to South America

Now that is a clear case of giving away our national secret.!!!

Until I read the rest of the news article.

The reclassified and removed report was about President Truman's visit to Bogata in 1948.

Moral of the story--give a Bush bureaucrat a rubber stanp and they will run amok. As a student of history I say--Go Obama GO.

[npkppprc]

Obuma seems to be a friend of our enemies. The public would't understand and doesn't have a need to know everything our military and certain agencies do or why they do it.
Just pay your taxes, shutup and do whatever Obuma wants. Anyone notice he demands his agendas be pushed through fast so no one will have time to think about it.
Hope the American people will like our furture socialist country. Poeple who think this man os good for this country is blind.

[reasoned1955]

OBAMA CONTIUES TO CLEAN UP THE POOP OF THE LAST ADMINISTRATION WHILE CHENEY RUNS AROUND EXTOLLING THE VIRTUES OF POOP.
Posted by eclecticman1 at 4:43 AM : May 28, 2009
==============
You neocrats are actually becoming droll with your comments regarding the last administration. The fact of the matter is that E.O. 12958 and its related E.O.s have been around for decades and decades. Each President since Truman has tweaked the rules for classifying information. Much of the constraints placed on unclassified information involves protecting personally identifiable information (Privacy Act). I applaud B.O. for wanting to streamline and validate the entire process to fit his agenda and the perceived direction of the Amercian public. But, don't be so flippant about "blaming" Bush for the rules...

Neocrats like you and neocons are the reason we need a third party to emerge that knows where the middle lies...

[elainecolbert]

ffff

[eclecticman1]

OBAMA CONTIUES TO CLEAN UP THE POOP OF THE LAST ADMINISTRATION WHILE CHENEY RUNS AROUND EXTOLLING THE VIRTUES OF POOP.

[nolies74621]

I have a very distinct feeling that the Nation will feel the reprecussion of BHO's in action in dealing with North Korea and Iran. He will be left alone to deal with the echoes.

[Livinontheedge]

Obama, there's no more secrecy....Iran, Syria, Cuba, and now North korea know that you have no backbone and that they can walk all over you. The rest of us know that you have now surpassed Jimmy Carter as the dumbest human being on earth. Just think, if you were not a liberal and didn't attend Harvard on a affirmative action scholarship, you wouldn't have been able to achieve this lofty goal. Obama, you have a lot to be proud of.
Posted by enjoylife63
============================================
The only person I ever see these days with no backbone and yellow to the core is you enjoylife63. It takes a man to disagree with your president and do it in a civil manner. It takes a spineless Moron to consistently bash your president with unfounded rhetoric. What a phucking wimp you are. You are one that 2 years serving your country in a war zone would help fix that faulty mind of yours and schitty thinking you have.

[skyk-2009]

I'm so glad to see the President doing what he said he would do during the campaign. The Bush Administration wanted to keep everything from We the People and that isn't right.