The Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), established in 1978, is responsible to the President for overseeing the Government-wide security classification program, and receives policy and program guidance from the National Security Council. ISOO has been part of the National Archives and Records Administration since 1995. You can learn more about ISOO at www.archives.gov/isoo
The 34th Annual Report to the President covering 2013 was released earlier this month.
Several positive developments are noted in this report:
- The number of persons granted original classification authority continues to decrease and is at its lowest recorded level, standing at 2,269.
- Agencies reported a 20% reduction in original classification activity
- ISOO conducted on-site reviews of five agency declassification programs with all agencies receiving a passing score.
Other report highlights:
- Agencies reported 58,794 original classification decisions
- Executive Branch agencies reported 80,124,389 derivative classification decisions
- Under automatic, systematic, and discretionary declassification review, agencies reviewed 56,332,029 pages and declassified 27,524,342 pages of historically valuable records.
I am proud of the work of our ISOO staff and encourage you to become familiar with this important function here at the National Archives.