Washington
DC, March 22, 2007 - At a hearing of
the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Intelligence,
Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment on "Over-classification
and Pseudo-classification: The Impact on Information Sharing,"
Archive General Counsel Meredith Fuchs testified Thursday that
serious overuse of pseudo-classification markings persists.
"We are long overdue for solving the challenges of information
sharing and overcoming the strain on government accountability
brought about by excessive secrecy," she said.
Following findings
by the National Security Archive in its 2006 audit about
the problem of pseudo-classification, Congress mandated the
creation of an Information Sharing Environment (ISE) and the
President ordered federal agencies to form a working group,
overseen by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), to
standardize procedures for managing Sensitive But Unclassified
(SBU) information.
While recognizing the important first step of appointing Ambassador
Thomas McNamara as Program Manager for the ISE and McNamara's
efforts to hold meetings and gather input from the public, Ms.
Fuchs noted that little progress has been made and the executive
branch still appears reluctant to move toward genuine reform
in information sharing policies.
Other witnesses included: J. William Leonard, Director of the
Information Security Oversight Office; Scott Armstrong, former
Archive Executive Director and Founder of the Information Trust;
Chief Cathy L. Lanier of the Washington Metropolitan Police
Department; and Michael P. Downing of the Counter-Terrorism/Criminal
Intelligence Bureau, Los Angeles Police Department.
