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H.R.4205

Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (Reported in the House)

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SEC. 1035. EXPENDITURES FOR DECLASSIFICATION ACTIVITIES.


FLOYD D. SPENCE NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2001

Committee Report - House Rpt. 106-616

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SECTION 1035--EXPENDITURES FOR DECLASSIFICATION ACTIVITIES

This section would require that any future budget request submitted to Congress by the Department of Defense (DOD) specifically identify, in a single display, funds being requested for the Department, each military department, and each defense agency to be used to declassify records to comply with declassification requirements of any statute or executive order. This section would also limit the expenditure of funds by the Department of Defense for the declassification of records during fiscal year 2001 to no more than $30.0 million.

The review or records for potential declassification and release to the public can be quite costly. The Department estimates that records review for declassification and public release will cost the Department $34.0 million from operation and maintenance (O&M) accounts during fiscal year 2000. The committee is concerned about the drain on operations and maintenance resources resulting from the declassification process. The O&M accounts, and the readiness accounts in particular, have been dramatically underfunded for years, a serious problem that is exacerbated by almost annual unbudgeted contingency operations. The committee believes that record declassification is a significantly lower priority for already scarce O&M funds and believes these funds should be spent addressing shortfalls in higher priority areas such as maintenance, training, spare parts, and other key readiness activities. Consequently, this section would limit the amount of funds available for the Department's fiscal year 2001 records declassification effort to $30.0 million, the amount the Department estimates will be necessary for planned record reviews.

In addition, section 230 of title 10, United States Code provides that the Secretary of Defense shall provide in budget justification materials submitted to Congress `specific identification, as a budgetary line item, of the amounts required to carry out' declassification activities. The Department of Defense failed to provide in the fiscal year 2001 budget request the required declassification line item. Parts of the declassification budget request were scattered across more than 10 budget accounts, and other portions of the declassification budget request were invisible, having been imbedded in other budget lines. The committee believes it is necessary that the full DOD declassification budget be visible in the annual budget request, so Congress will be better able to establish appropriate levels for such expenditures. Therefore, this section would require the Department to include in future budget request materials a single display reflecting the total amount requested for records declassification.




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