    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [April 17, 1995]
    [Pages 540-541]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Signing the Executive Order on Classified National Security
    Information
    April 17, 1995

        Today I have signed an Executive order reforming the Government's
    system of secrecy. The order will lift the veil on millions of existing
    documents, keep a great many future documents from ever being
    classified, and still maintain necessary controls over information that
    legitimately needs to be guarded in the interests of national security.
        In issuing this order, I am seeking to bring the system for
    classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national security
    information into line with our vision of American democracy in the post-
    Cold War world.
        This order strikes an appropriate balance. On the one hand, it will
    sharply reduce the permitted level of secrecy within our Government,
    making available to the American people and posterity most documents of
    permanent historical value that were maintained in secrecy until now.
        On the other, the order enables us to safeguard the information that
    we must hold in confidence to protect our Nation and our citizens. We
    must continue to protect information that is critical to the pursuit of
    our national security interests. There are some categories of
    information--for example, the war plans we may employ or the identities
    of clandestine human assets--that must remain protected.
        This order also will reduce the sizable costs of secrecy--the
    tangible costs of needlessly guarding documents and the intangible costs
    of depriving ourselves of the fullest possible flow of information.
        This order establishes many firsts: Classifiers will have to justify
    what they classify; employees will be encouraged and expected to
    challenge improper classification and protected from retribution for
    doing so; and large-scale declassification won't be dependent on the
    availability of individuals to conduct a line-by-line review. Rather, we
    will automatically declassify hundreds of millions of pages of
    information that were classified in the past 50 years.
        Similarly, we will no longer tolerate the excesses of the current
    system. For example, we will resolve doubtful calls about classification
    in favor of keeping the information unclassified. We will not permit the
    reclassification of information after it has been declassified and
    disclosed under proper authority. We will authorize agency heads to
    balance the public interest in disclosure against the national security
    interest in making declassification decisions. And, we will no longer
    presumptively classify certain categories of information, whether or not
    the specific information otherwise meets the strict standards for
    classification. At the same time, however, we will maintain every
    necessary safeguard and procedure to assure that appropriately
    classified information is fully protected.
        Taken together, these reforms will greatly reduce the amount of
    information that we classify in the first place and the amount that
    remains classified. Perhaps most important, the reforms will create a
    classification system that Americans can trust to protect our national
    security in a reasonable, limited, and cost-effective manner.
        In keeping with my goals and commitments, this order was drafted in
    an unprecedented environment of openness. We held open hearings and
    benefitted from the recommendations of interested Committees of Congress
    and nongovernmental organizations, groups, businesses, and individuals.
    The order I have signed today is stronger because of the advice we
    received

    [[Page 541]]

    from so many sources. I thank all those who have helped to establish
    this new system as a model for protecting our national security within
    the framework of a Government of, by, and for the people.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    April 17, 1995.

    Note: The Executive order is listed in Appendix D at the end of this
    volume.