[net-gold] Secrecy News -- 01/06/09
- From: "David P. Dillard" <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
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- Date: Sat, 9 Jan 2010 12:01:17 -0500 (EST)
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Date: Wed, 6 Jan 2010 15:06:48 -0500 (EST)
From: David P. Dillard <jwne@xxxxxxxxxx>
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Subject: Secrecy News -- 01/06/09
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Date: Wed, 6 Jan 2010 11:29:06 -0500
From: Steven Aftergood <saftergood@xxxxxxx>
To: saftergood@xxxxxxx
Subject: Secrecy News -- 01/06/09 (alt list)
SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2010, Issue No. 2
January 6, 2010
Secrecy News Blog:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
** OBAMA DESIGNATES AND LIMITS ORIGINAL CLASSIFIERS
** DROUGHT IN CALIFORNIA, DEMOCRACY IN HONG KONG (CRS)
** OSC REPORTS ON IRAN'S STATE-RUN TELEVISION
OBAMA DESIGNATES AND LIMITS ORIGINAL CLASSIFIERS
In a December 29 Order published in the Federal Register yesterday,
President Obama designated more than two dozen officials as "original
classification authorities" (OCAs) who have the power to classify
information as Top Secret or Secret, and (in most cases) to delegate such
authority to their subordinates.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/obama/oca.html
The new list of authorized classifiers contains only a few changes from past
practice, but the Executive Order on classification policy that was also
issued on December 29 imposes several new conditions on original classifiers
that should help limit excessive secrecy.
A prior list of classifiers issued in 1995 by President Clinton had granted
Top Secret classification authority to the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB). That authority was rescinded by President
Obama. Also newly rescinded are the classification authorities of the
Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors (Secret), the President of the
Export-Import Bank of the United States (Confidential), and the President of
the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Confidential).
http://www.fas.org/sgp/clinton/oca.html
These officials lost their classification authority primarily because they
were not using it very much. "An analysis of OCA activity since 1995 was
part of the process [of identifying which OCAs were needed]" said William J.
Bosanko, director of the Information Security Oversight Office, who himself
was newly granted Top Secret classification authority in the Obama Order.
Other changes in the new list of officials reflect the establishment of new
organizations (DHS, ODNI), and the absorption or elimination of others
(FEMA, USIA, ACDA). Since 2003, the Vice President has been named as a
classification authority in the body of the executive order on
classification, and that remains the case today, so his designation is not
included in the list of authorized officials (as it had been in the 1995
Clinton Order). Bush Administration grants of classification authority to
HHS, Agriculture, EPA, and OSTP are preserved in the Obama list.
Beyond that, a web of new requirements in the latest presidential orders
seems likely to discourage freewheeling classification activity. In a
December 29 memo on implementation, the President directed all agency heads
to review their existing delegations of classification authority, to limit
them "to the minimum necessary," and to report on the results of the review
within 120 days. In order to eliminate phantom or unidentified classifiers,
any delegations of classification authority also must now be reported by
name or position to the ISOO Director, the new Obama Executive Order states
(sect. 1.3c5).
Most significant of all, new language in the Obama Executive Order 13526
directs that "All original classification authorities must receive training
in proper classification (including the avoidance of over-classification)...
at least once a calendar year." And should they fail to receive such
training in a given year, they "shall have their classification authority
suspended...." (section 1.3d).
http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo/eo-13526.htm
Could it really be true that "all" original classifiers will have to receive
annual classification training, or have their ability to classify suspended?
Will the President get such training? The Director of National
Intelligence? The Director of the Information Security Oversight Office
(ISOO), who is the one responsible for developing such training?
The President is a special case, said Mr. Bosanko, the ISOO Director. But
otherwise, "all means all."
"Leadership at agencies starts at the top," he said. He pointed to section
5.4(a) of the new order which provides that agency heads "shall demonstrate
personal commitment and commit senior management to the successful
implementation of the program...." "How can that be done," Mr. Bosanko
said, "if the rules do not apply to them?"
And "Yes," he added, "[the classification training requirement] applies to
me. My staff has already reminded me. I will be sitting down with them for
a briefing at least annually."
At the end of FY2008, there were a total of 4,109 original classification
authorities in the executive branch, according to the most recent annual
report of the Information Security Oversight Office.
A bill introduced last month by Senators Russ Feingold and Sheldon
Whitehouse would require the President to publish a notice in the Federal
Register whenever he modifies or revokes a published Executive Order. The
bill, previously introduced in 2008, is intended to help "reverse the growth
of secret law in the executive branch." It responds to the previous
Administration's claim that the President is not bound by Executive Orders
and can depart from their terms at will, and without public or congressional
notification.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2009/s2929.html
DROUGHT IN CALIFORNIA, DEMOCRACY IN HONG KONG (CRS)
Noteworthy new Congressional Research Service reports obtained by Secrecy
News include the following.
"Military Service Records and Unit Histories: A Guide to Locating Sources,"
December 16, 2009:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/secrecy/RS21282.pdf
"California Drought: Hydrological and Regulatory Water Supply Issues,"
December 7, 2009:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R40979.pdf
"Government Collection of Private Information: Background and Issues Related
to the USA PATRTIOT Act Reauthorization," December 9, 2009:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/R40980.pdf
"Amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Set to Expire
February 28, 2010," December 23, 2009:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/R40138.pdf
"Homeland Security Department: FY2010 Appropriations," December 14, 2009:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R40642.pdf
"Private Security Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan: Legal Issues,"
December 22, 2009:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R40991.pdf
"International Terrorism and Transnational Crime: Security Threats, U.S.
Policy, and Considerations for Congress," January 5, 2010:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/terror/R41004.pdf
"U.S. Public Diplomacy: Background and Current Issues," December 18, 2009:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R40989.pdf
"Prospects for Democracy in Hong Kong: The 2012 Election Reforms," December
10, 2009:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R40992.pdf
OSC REPORTS ON IRAN'S STATE-RUN TELEVISION
Iran's state-run television organization known as the IRIB is profiled in a
new report from the DNI Open Source Center.
The rather massive IRIB employs an estimated 46,000 persons, according to
the OSC report, and has a reported budget of $900 million. It offers a vast
network of internal and external channels, which collectively seek to
"strengthen the country's cultural solidarity," to promote "the majesty and
supremacy of Islam," and to support "the fulfillment of the Supreme Leader's
point of view."
The unclassified OSC report has not been approved for public release, but a
copy was obtained by Secrecy News. See "Structure of Iran's State-Run TV
IRIB," Open Source Center, December 16, 2009:
http://www.fas.org/irp/dni/osc/iran-tv.pdf
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation
of American Scientists.
The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/
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_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood@xxxxxxx
voice: (202) 454-4691
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