22 U.S.C. § 4354 — Declassification of State Department records
submitted 70 years ago by Pub. L. 102-138 to r/title-22-FOREIGN-RELATIONS-AND-INTERCOURSE · 591 words · no verdicts yet
Most State Department records of permanent historical value must be declassified after 25 years and made public, unless the Secretary finds one of four listed reasons for withholding them. The Advisory Committee and Secretary must report annually.
(a) (1) Unless subsection (b) applies, each classified State Department record* of permanent historical value, as determined by the Secretary and Archivist, must be declassified within 25 years after preparation, transferred to the National Archives, and made available there for public inspection and copying. (2) This does not require declassification of a record wholly prepared by a foreign government.
(b) Subsection (a) does not apply when the Secretary, coordinating with an agency that originated information in the record, determines publication would (1) compromise important weapons technology or reveal sensitive United States or foreign military-equipment design or United States cryptologic information; (2) reveal living confidential sources' identities and substantially risk harming them; (3) demonstrably impede current diplomacy or official activity or demonstrably harm national security; or (4) reveal only State Department personnel rules or information in personnel, medical, or similar files whose disclosure would clearly and unjustifiably invade privacy.
(c) (1) The Advisory Committee* must review State declassification procedures, all declassification guidelines (including those in effect on October 28, 1991), and, by random sample, representative State records still classified after 30 years. (2) If the Secretary denies access to sampled records, the Secretary must describe them and the reasons in writing.
(d) Each year the Committee must report its review findings to the Secretary and the Senate Foreign Relations and House International Relations Committees.
(e) (1) By March 1 each year, the Secretary must report to those committees on compliance, including volumes published during the prior year, the extent of failure to meet section 4351(c)'s deadline, and reasons for failure. (2) The report must be unclassified, with a classified annex if needed.
Except as provided in subsection (b), each classified record* of permanent historical value (as determined by the Secretary of State and the Archivist of the United States) which was published, issued, or otherwise prepared by the Department of State (or any officer or employee thereof acting in an official capacity) shall be declassified not later than 25 years after the record was prepared, shall be transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration, and shall be made available at the National Archives for public inspection and copying.
Nothing in this subsection may be construed to require the declassification of a record wholly prepared by a foreign government.
Subsection (a) shall not apply to any record (or portion thereof) the publication of which the Secretary of State, in coordination with any agency that originated information in the records, determines—
would compromise weapons technology important to the national defense of the United States or reveal sensitive information relating to the design of United States or foreign military equipment or relating to United States cryptologic systems or activities;
would disclose the names or identities of living persons who provided confidential information to the United States and would pose a substantial risk of harm to such persons;
would demonstrably impede current diplomatic negotiations or other ongoing official activities of the United States Government or would demonstrably impair the national security of the United States; or
would disclose matters that are related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of the Department of State or are contained in personnel, medical, or similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
The Advisory Committee* shall review—
the State Department’s declassification procedures,
all guidelines used in declassification, including those guidelines provided to the National Archives and Records Administration which are in effect on October 28, 1991, and
by random sampling, records representative of all Department of State records published, issued, or otherwise prepared by the Department of State that remain classified after 30 years.
In the event that the Secretary of State considers it necessary to deny access to records under paragraph (1)(C), the Secretary shall notify the Advisory Committee in writing, describing the nature of the records in question and the justification for withholding them.
The Advisory Committee shall annually submit to the Secretary of State and to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives a report setting forth its findings from the review conducted under subsection (c).
Not later than March 1 of each year, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives on the compliance of the Department of State with the provisions of this chapter, including—
the volumes published in the previous calendar year;
the degree to which the Department is not in compliance with the deadline set forth in section 4351(c) of this title; and
the factors relevant to the inability of the Department to comply with the provisions of this chapter, including section 4351(c) of this title.
Each report required to be submitted by paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, together with a classified annex if necessary.
Source credit: (Aug. 1, 1956, ch. 841, title IV, § 404, as added Pub. L. 102–138, title I, § 198(a), Oct. 28, 1991, 105 Stat. 687; amended Pub. L. 107–228, div. A, title II, § 205, Sept. 30, 2002, 116 Stat. 1363; Pub. L. 117–81, div. E, title LV, § 5504(2), Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 2376.)
- 1956Enacted · Pub. L. 102-138 · 105 Stat. 687
- 2002Amended · Pub. L. 107-228 · 116 Stat. 1363
- 2021Amended · Pub. L. 117-81 · 135 Stat. 2376
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 102-138 on 1956-08-01.
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