Transparently Bush - Lies About Secrets and Secrets About Lies

Introduction

From 1995 to 2002, the government made enormous progress in drawing back the veil of secrecy imposed by the national security classification system. An Executive Order signed by President Clinton in 1995 cut back on the ability of bureaucrats to classify information and, most importantly, encouraged the release of historical records by setting a deadline by which officials must either make the information public or show that continued secrecy is justified. The 1995 Order was so successful in promoting declassification that, during the first six years after this Order was issued, the average number of records declassified each year increased more than tenfold, and more than five times the number of records declassified from 1980 to 1994 were declassified in just six years under the 1995 Order. Information Security Oversight Office Report to the President, 2001 at 3-4 (Nov. 2002) ("ISOO 2001 Report").

In March 2003, the Bush Administration demonstrated that it intended to take a different approach by amending the 1995 Order. The Bush Administration's new directive for classification is Executive Order 13,292, and it immediately displaces the 1995 Order, Executive Order 12,958.

Although Executive Order 13,292 retains most of the structure of the 1995 Order, it modifies many of the critical provisions in ways that encourage greater secrecy and allow agencies to postpone or avoid declassification that would have been required under the 1995 Order. The most significant differences between the Bush Administration Order and the 1995 Order are summarized below.

8. Vice President
The new order amends the definition of "original classification authority" to include "the Vice President in the performance of executive duties." Although the Vice President was not listed as an original classification authority in the previous Executive Order, a separate Presidential directive gave the Vice President Top Secret original classification authority, including the power to delegate that authority to others. See 60 Fed. Reg. 53845-46 (Oct. 17, 1995)(Presidential Order designating the Vice President and other senior officials as "original classification authorities")

The Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP) was established by executive order 12958 (section 5.4) to perform three primary functions:


- to rule on appeals from government employees who challenged agency classification policies
- to approve, deny, or amend agency exemptions from automatic declassification requirements
- to rule on appeals from members of the public who have filed requests for mandatory declassification.