Wyden, Moran Urge Biden Administration to Complete Revisions of Executive Order Necessary to Reform America’s Broken Classification and Declassification System
National Intelligence Director Avril Haines acknowledged that flaws in the current classification and declassification system “undermine our national security”
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., today urged President Joe Biden to complete necessary revisions of the executive order governing America’s classification and declassification system.
“The failures of the current obsolete system have been extensively documented in reports from the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) of the National Archives and the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB). The need for reform has also been stressed repeatedly by the Director of National Intelligence, who has stated that deficiencies in the current system ‘undermine our national security, as well as critical democratic objectives.’ Critical to this reform effort are amendments to Executive Order 13526, which was last updated in 2009’” wrote Wyden and Moran in a letter to President Biden.
Wyden and Moran have long led the bipartisan effort to reform America’s classification and declassification system, including by pressing for revisions to the executive order that governs this system. In October 2021, Wyden and Moran urged DNI Director Haines to coordinate with the National Security Council and report on progress on the revisions. In May 2022, the senators followed with another letter urging that the White House treat the revisions of the executive order as an urgent priority. In August 2022, Director Haines responded on behalf of President Biden that the revision process had begun.
Among the reforms necessary to fix the country’s broken system is the designation of an Executive Agent to help modernize the obsolete technology that prevents declassification. In October 2019, Wyden and Moran introduced bipartisan legislation to designate an Executive Agent, a reform that subsequently gained the bipartisan support of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“Completing the work of modernizing the Executive Order and fundamentally reforming the country’s broken classification and declassification system would be a historically significant part of your legacy. Key members of your administration, in particular the DNI, have repeatedly stressed the importance of this project, both to strengthening American democracy and the national security,” Wyden and Moran concluded.
The letter text is here.
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