[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 35 (Monday, August 30, 2004)]
[Pages 1704-1707]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Executive Order 13356--Strengthening the Sharing of Terrorism 
Information To Protect Americans

August 27, 2004

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and 
laws of the United States of America, and in order to further strengthen 
the effective conduct of United States intelligence activities and 
protect the territory, people, and interests of the United States of 
America, including against terrorist attacks, it is hereby ordered as 
follows:
    Section 1. Policy. To the maximum extent consistent with applicable 
law, agencies shall, in the design and use of information systems and in 
the dissemination of information among agencies:
    (a) give the highest priority to (i) the detection, prevention, 
disruption, preemption, and mitigation of the effects of terrorist 
activities against the territory, people, and interests of the United 
States of America, (ii) the interchange of terrorism information among 
agencies, (iii) the interchange of terrorism information between 
agencies and appropriate authorities of States and local governments, 
and (iv) the protection of the ability of agencies to acquire additional 
such information; and
    (b) protect the freedom, information privacy, and other legal rights 
of Americans in the conduct of activities implementing subsection (a).
    Sec. 2. Duty of Heads of Agencies Possessing or Acquiring Terrorism 
Information. To implement the policy set forth in section 1 of this 
order, the head of each agency that possesses or acquires terrorism 
information:
    (a) shall promptly give access to the terrorism information to the 
head of each other agency that has counterterrorism functions, and 
provide the terrorism information to each such agency in accordance with 
the standards and information sharing guidance issued pursuant to this 
order, unless otherwise directed by the President, and consistent with 
(i) the statutory responsibilities of the agencies providing and 
receiving the information, (ii) any guidance issued by the Attorney 
General to fulfill the policy set forth in subsection 1(b) of this 
order, and (iii) other applicable law, including section 103(c)(7) of 
the National Security Act of 1947, section 892 of the Homeland Security 
Act of 2002, Executive Order 12958 of April 17, 1995, as amended, and 
Executive Order 13311 of July 29, 2003;
    (b) shall cooperate in and facilitate production of reports based on 
terrorism information with contents and formats that permit 
dissemination that maximizes the utility of the information in 
protecting the territory, people, and interests of the United States; 
and
    (c) shall facilitate implementation of the plan developed by the 
Information Systems Council established by section 5 of this order.
    Sec. 3. Preparing Terrorism Information for Maximum Distribution 
within Intelligence Community. To assist in expeditious and effective 
implementation by agencies within the Intelligence Community of the 
policy set forth in section 1 of this order, the Director of Central 
Intelligence shall, in consultation with the Attorney General and the 
other heads of agencies within the Intelligence Community, set forth not 
later than 90 days after the date of this order, and thereafter as 
appropriate, common standards for the sharing of terrorism information 
by agencies within the Intelligence Community with (i) other agencies 
within the Intelligence Community, (ii) other agencies having 
counterterrorism functions, and (iii) through or in coordination with 
the Department of Homeland Security, appropriate authorities of State 
and local governments. These common standards shall improve information 
sharing by such methods as:
    (a) requiring, at the outset of the intelligence collection and 
analysis process, the creation of records and reporting, for both raw 
and processed information including, for example, metadata and content, 
in such a manner that sources and methods are protected so that the 
information can be distributed at lower classification levels, and by 
creating unclassified versions for distribution whenever possible;
    (b) requiring records and reports related to terrorism information 
to be produced with multiple versions at an unclassified level and at 
varying levels of classification, for example

[[Page 1705]]

on an electronic tearline basis, allowing varying degrees of access by 
other agencies and personnel commensurate with their particular security 
clearance levels and special access approvals;
    (c) requiring terrorism information to be shared free of originator 
controls, including, for example, controls requiring the consent of the 
originating agency prior to the dissemination of the information outside 
any other agency to which it has been made available, to the maximum 
extent permitted by applicable law, Executive Orders, or Presidential 
guidance;
    (d) minimizing the applicability of information compartmentalization 
systems to terrorism information, to the maximum extent permitted by 
applicable law, Executive Orders, and Presidential guidance; and
    (e) ensuring the establishment of appropriate arrangements providing 
incentives for, and holding personnel accountable for, increased sharing 
of terrorism information, consistent with requirements of the Nation's 
security and with applicable law, Executive Orders, and Presidential 
guidance.
    Sec. 4. Requirements for Collection of Terrorism Information Inside 
the United States. (a) The Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland 
Security, and the Director of Central Intelligence shall, not later than 
90 days after the date of this order, jointly submit to the President, 
through the Assistants to the President for National Security Affairs 
and Homeland Security, their recommendation on the establishment of 
executive branch-wide collection and sharing requirements, procedures, 
and guidelines for terrorism information to be collected within the 
United States, including, but not limited to, from publicly available 
sources, including nongovernmental databases.
    (b) The recommendation submitted under subsection (a) of this 
section shall also:
 (i)         address requirements and guidelines for the collection and 
            sharing of other information necessary to protect the 
            territory, people, and interests of the United States; and
 (ii)        propose arrangements for ensuring that officers of the 
            United States with responsibilities for protecting the 
            territory, people, and interests of the United States are 
            provided with clear, understandable, consistent, effective, 
            and lawful procedures and guidelines for the collection, 
            handling, distribution, and retention of information.
    Sec. 5. Establishment of Information Systems Council. (a) There is 
established an Information Systems Council (Council), chaired by a 
designee of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and 
composed exclusively of designees of: the Secretaries of State, the 
Treasury, Defense, Commerce, Energy, and Homeland Security; the Attorney 
General; the Director of Central Intelligence; the Director of the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Director of the National 
Counterterrorism Center, once that position is created and filled (and 
until that time the Director of the Terrorism Threat Integration 
Center); and such other heads of departments or agencies as the Director 
of the Office of Management and Budget may designate.
    (b) The mission of the Council is to plan for and oversee the 
establishment of an interoperable terrorism information sharing 
environment to facilitate automated sharing of terrorism information 
among appropriate agencies to implement the policy set forth in section 
1 of this order.
    (c) Not later than 120 days after the date of this order, the 
Council shall report to the President through the Assistants to the 
President for National Security Affairs and Homeland Security, on a 
plan, with proposed milestones, timetables for achieving those 
milestones, and identification of resources, for the establishment of 
the proposed interoperable terrorism information sharing environment. 
The plan shall, at a minimum:
 (i)         describe and define the parameters of the proposed 
            interoperable terrorism information sharing environment, 
            including functions, capabilities, and resources;
 (ii)        identify and, as appropriate, recommend the consolidation 
            and elimination of current programs, systems, and processes 
            used by agencies to share terrorism information, and 
            recommend as appropriate the redirection of existing 
            resources to support

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            the interoperable terrorism information sharing environment;
 (iii)       identify gaps, if any, between existing technologies, 
            programs, and systems used by agencies to share terrorism 
            information and the parameters of the proposed interoperable 
            terrorism information sharing environment;
 (iv)        recommend near-term solutions to address any such gaps 
            until the interoperable terrorism information sharing 
            environment can be established;
 (v)         recommend a plan for implementation of the interoperable 
            terrorism information sharing environment, including roles 
            and responsibilities, measures of success, and deadlines for 
            the development and implementation of functions and 
            capabilities from the initial stage to full operational 
            capability;
 (vi)        recommend how the proposed interoperable terrorism 
            information sharing environment can be extended to allow 
            interchange of terrorism information between agencies and 
            appropriate authorities of States and local governments; and
 (vii)       recommend whether and how the interoperable terrorism 
            information sharing environment should be expanded, or 
            designed so as to allow future expansion, for purposes of 
            encompassing other categories of intelligence and 
            information.
    Sec. 6. Definitions. As used in this order:
    (a) the term ``agency'' has the meaning set forth for the term 
``executive agency'' in section 105 of title 5, United States Code, 
together with the Department of Homeland Security, but includes the 
Postal Rate Commission and the United States Postal Service and excludes 
the Government Accountability Office;
    (b) the terms ``Intelligence Community'' and ``agency within the 
Intelligence Community'' have the meanings set forth for those terms in 
section 3.4(f) of Executive Order 12333 of December 4, 1981, as amended;
    (c) the terms ``local government,'' ``State,'' and, when used in a 
geographical sense, ``United States,'' have the meanings set forth for 
those terms in section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 
101); and
    (d) the term ``terrorism information'' means all information, 
whether collected, produced, or distributed by intelligence, law 
enforcement, military, homeland security, or other United States 
Government activities, relating to (i) the existence, organization, 
capabilities, plans, intentions, vulnerabilities, means of finance or 
material support, or activities of foreign or international terrorist 
groups or individuals, or of domestic groups or individuals involved in 
transnational terrorism; (ii) threats posed by such groups or 
individuals to the United States, United States persons, or United 
States interests, or to those of other nations; (iii) communications of 
or by such groups or individuals; or (iv) information relating to groups 
or individuals reasonably believed to be assisting or associated with 
such groups or individuals.
    Sec. 7. General Provisions. (a) This order:
 (i)         shall be implemented in a manner consistent with applicable 
            law, including Federal law protecting the information 
            privacy and other legal rights of Americans, and subject to 
            the availability of appropriations;
 (ii)        shall be implemented in a manner consistent with the 
            authority of the principal officers of agencies as heads of 
            their respective agencies, including under section 199 of 
            the Revised Statutes (22 U.S.C. 2651), section 201 of the 
            Department of Energy Reorganization Act (42 U.S.C. 7131), 
            section 102(a) of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 
            U.S.C. 403(a)), section 102(a) of the Homeland Security Act 
            of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 112(a)), and sections 301 of title 5, 
            113(b) and 162(b) of title 10, 1501 of title 15, 503 of 
            title 28, and 301(b) of title 31, United States Code; and
 (iii)       shall not be construed to impair or otherwise affect the 
            functions of the Director of the Office of Management and 
            Budget relating to budget, administrative, and legislative 
            proposals.
    (b) This order is intended only to improve the internal management 
of the Federal Government and is not intended to, and does

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not, create any rights or benefits, substantive or procedural, 
enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, 
its departments, agencies, instrumentalities, or entities, its officers, 
employees, or agents, or any other person.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 August 27, 2004.

 [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., August 31, 
2004]

Note: This Executive order will be published in the Federal Register on 
September 1.