The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) is a “front company” that seeks “to expose national security information,” according to a new briefing on classification policy prepared by a U.S. Marine Corps official. See “Derivative Classification Requirements 2009” (pdf), U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific.
The 13 page briefing, which pedantically explains the proper marking of derivatively classified records, suddenly veers off at page 10 into a factually mistaken claim that “all classified material is being challenged with a view to declassification.”
Out of nowhere, the anonymous briefer asserts that “The Federation of American Scientists is a good example of a front company trying to expose National Security Information under the pretense [probably should be: pretext] of ‘World Peace’.”
“‘No secrets in government’ is their mantra,” the briefing states.
That’s close, but the correct mantra is “No stupidity in government.”
The Federation of American Scientists supports H.R. 4420, the Cool Corridors Act of 2025, which would reauthorize the Healthy Streets program through 2030 and seeks to increase green and other shade infrastructure in high-heat areas.
The current lack of public trust in AI risks inhibiting innovation and adoption of AI systems, meaning new methods will not be discovered and new benefits won’t be felt. A failure to uphold high standards in the technology we deploy will also place our nation at a strategic disadvantage compared to our competitors.
Using the NIST as an example, the Radiation Physics Building (still without the funding to complete its renovation) is crucial to national security and the medical community. If it were to go down (or away), every medical device in the United States that uses radiation would be decertified within 6 months, creating a significant single point of failure that cannot be quickly mitigated.
The federal government can support more proactive, efficient, and cost-effective resiliency planning by certifying predictive models to validate and publicly indicate their quality.