Bush Administration Surpressing Documents in Classification Frenzy - March 22, 2004 Vol. 5, No. 6

March 22, 2004 Vol. 5, No. 6:

Published: 03/22/2004

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Bush Administration Surpressing Documents in Classification Frenzy

The Bush administration is classifying documents at nearly twice the rate of the Clinton administration, according to statistics compiled by the Information Security Oversight Office, an arm of the National Archives and Records Administration. The current administration has classified 44.5 million records and documents in two years, roughly the same number of records classified during the final four years of Clinton’s administration.

In addition to the staggering number of documents classified, President Bush extended classification authority to several federal agencies that previously lacked such authority. New classification powers were granted to the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Historically, this power has been reserved for federal agencies involved with national security, such as the Departments of Defense, State, and Justice.

Government officials explain away the increased classification information and authority merely as the result of the war on terrorism, the war in Iraq, and an increase in electronic records kept by the government.

However, the Bush administration seems to raise the specter of terrorism to deflect any discussion of information policy details. Even prior to Sept. 11, the Bush administration had displayed a strong penchant for secrecy and a belief that previous administrations were too open to the public.