The culture of secrecy

It has been 50 years since the foreign intelligence system of the US was established by the National Security Act of 1947 and 80 years since the Espionage Act of 1917 established the present legal regime dealing with subversive activities within the US itself. It is now time to consider how appropriate the security arrangements of the previous age are to the current time. The 103rd Congress enacted legislation directing such an inquiry. Over the course of 80 years, a vast system of secrecy has developed within the American government. There has been only one other statutory inquiry into the subject. This was the Commission on Government Security, established in 1955 by the 84th Congress, known as the Wright Commission for its chairman, Loyd Wright. A culture of openness will never develop within government until the present culture of secrecy is restrained by statute. A statute is proposed which will establish a general classification scheme and create a national declassification center.