HR 5977 — Sensible Classification Act of 2023

(a) Establishment (1) There is established within the executive branch of the United States a board to be known as the “Public Interest Declassification Board” (in this subchapter referred to as the “Board”). (2) The Board shall report directly to the President or, upon designation by the President, the Vice President, the Attorney General, or other designee of the President. The other designee of the President under this paragraph may not be an agency head or official authorized to classify information under Executive Order 13526, or any successor order. (b) Purposes The purposes of the Board are as follows: (1) To advise the President, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and such other executive branch officials as the Board considers appropriate on the systematic, thorough, coordinated, and comprehensive identification, collection, review for declassification, and release to Congress, interested agencies, and the public of declassified records and materials (including donated historical materials) that are of archival value, including records and materials of extraordinary public interest. (2) To promote the fullest possible public access to a thorough, accurate, and reliable documentary record of significant United States national security decisions and significant United States national security activities in order to— (A) support the oversight and legislative functions of Congress; (B) support the policymaking role of the executive branch; (C) respond to the interest of the public in national security matters; and (D) promote reliable historical analysis and new avenues of historical study in national security matters. (3) To provide recommendations to the President for the identification, collection, and review for declassification of information of extraordinary public interest that does not undermine the national security of the United States, to be undertaken in accordance with a declassification program that has been established or may be established by the President by Executive order. (4) To advise the President, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and such other executive branch officials as the Board considers appropriate on policies deriving from the issuance by the President of Executive orders regarding the classification and declassification of national security information. (5) To review and make recommendations to the President in a timely manner with respect to any congressional request, made by the committee of jurisdiction or by a member of the committee of jurisdiction, to declassify certain records, to evaluate the proper classification of certain records, or to reconsider a declination to declassify specific records. (c) Membership (1) The Board shall be composed of nine individuals appointed from among citizens of the United States who are preeminent in the fields of history, national security, foreign policy, intelligence policy, social science, law, or archives, including individuals who have served in Congress or otherwise in the Federal Government or have otherwise engaged in research, scholarship, or publication in such fields on matters relating to the national security of the United States, of whom— (A) five shall be appointed by the President; (B) one shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; (C) one shall be appointed by the majority leader of the Senate; (D) one shall be appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; and (E) one shall be appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives. (2) (A) Of the members initially appointed to the Board by the President— (i) three shall be appointed for a term of 4 years; (ii) one shall be appointed for a term of 3 years; and (iii) one shall be appointed for a term of 2 years. (B) The members initially appointed to the Board by the Speaker of the House...