Statement on Issuing Executive Order 12065 Concerning National Security Information

I am pleased to sign the Executive order revamping the Government's security classification system.

The public is entitled to know as much as possible about the Government's activities. Classification should be used only to protect legitimate national security secrets and never to cover up mistakes or improper activities.

While some material must be classified, the Government classifies too much information, classifies it too highly and for too long. These practices violate the public's right to know, impose unnecessary costs, and weaken protection for truly sensitive information by undermining respect for all classification.

The new order will increase openness in Government by limiting classification and accelerating declassification. At the same time, it will improve protection for information that needs to be kept secret.

The standard for classification has been tightened. No document is to be classified unless its release reasonably could be expected to cause identifiable damage to the national security. Insignificant damage is not a basis for classification. In addition, the number of agencies and officials with classification authority is being reduced. Delegation of such authority shall be held to a minimum.

All documents should be declassified as early as national security permits. Under the new order, most documents will be declassified after no more than 6 years. Only agency heads and officials with "Top Secret" classification authority may classify for a longer period and only by indicating why classification will remain necessary despite the passage of time. With a few exceptions, the documents given extended classification will be declassified after no more than 20 years. The millions of documents classified under prior orders that are over 20 years old will be reviewed and—in almost all cases—released as quickly as possible.

I expect all officials to follow these procedures and the others set out in the new order. But experience has taught us that strong oversight is needed, both to make the classification system as open as possible and to safeguard properly classified documents. Each agency that handles classified information should take care to ensure that its personnel understand and follow the new procedures.

In addition, I have created an Information Security Oversight Office to provide overall supervision. This Office will have authority to review agencies' procedures and files. It can overrule their regulations and their decisions on classification of individual documents, subject to appeal to the National Security Council. The Office will report regularly to the NSC and to me on compliance with the order. The Office is a key element to the new classification system, and it will have my strong support.

In a break from precedent, this order was drafted in consultation with several congressional committees and private groups. I particularly wish to thank Senators James Abourezk, Joseph Biden, Edmund Muskie, and Representatives Edward Boland and Richardson Preyer for their valuable assistance.