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Executive Order 13142 Constitutional Fidelity (+0.23)

Executive Order 13142—Amendment to Executive Order 12958—Classified National Security Information

William J. Clinton William J. Clinton
•
Friday, November 19, 1999
•
3 min read (665 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

This executive order, signed by President William J. Clinton on 1999-11-19, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Amendment to Executive Order 12958—Classified National Security Information." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

▪ For records that contain information that becomes subject to automatic declassification after the dates otherwise established in this paragraph, all classified information in such records shall be automatically declassified, whether or not the records have been reviewed on December 31 of the year that is 25 years from the origin of the information, except as provided in paragraph (b), below." Sec.
▪ Subsections (a) and (b) of section 5.2 are amended to read as follows: "(a) The Director of the Information Security Oversight Office, under the direction of the Archivist of the United States and in consultation with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the co-chairs of the Security Policy Board, shall issue such directives as are necessary to implement this order.
▪ These directives shall be binding upon the agencies.
▪ Directives issued by the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office shall establish standards for: (1) classification and marking principles; (2) agency security education and training programs; (3) agency self-inspection programs; and (4) classification and declassification guides.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Branch Departments 🏛️ General Body of the People
Total Words
665
4,301 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
19.7
Post-Grad reading level
Constitutional Polarity
+0.23
Framers' Alignment index
📜

Scholarly & Legal Citations 

Exec. Order No. 13142, William J. Clinton (Nov 19, 1999). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-13142-amendment-executive-order-12958-classified-national-security.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to extend and establish specific dates for the time within which all classified information contained in records more than 25 years old that have been determined to have historical value under title 44, United States Code, should be automatically declassified, and to establish the Information Security Oversight Office within the National Archives and Records Administration, it is hereby ordered that Executive Order 12958 is amended as follows: Section 1. In the first sentence of section 3.4(a) of Executive Order 12958, the words "within five years from the date of this order" are deleted and the words "within six and one-half years from the date of this order" are inserted in lieu thereof. Sec. 2. The following new language is inserted at the end of section 3.4(a): "For records otherwise subject to this paragraph for which a review or assessment conducted by the agency and confirmed by the Information Security Oversight Office has determined that they: (1) contain information that was created by or is under the control of more than one agency, or (2) are within file series containing information that almost invariably pertains to intelligence sources or methods, all classified information in such records shall be automatically declassified, whether or not the records have been reviewed, within 8 years from the date of this order, except as provided in paragraph (b), below. For records that contain information that becomes subject to automatic declassification after the dates otherwise established in this paragraph, all classified information in such records shall be automatically declassified, whether or not the records have been reviewed on December 31 of the year that is 25 years from the origin of the information, except as provided in paragraph (b), below." Sec. 3. Subsections (a) and (b) of section 5.2 are amended to read as follows: "(a) The Director of the Information Security Oversight Office, under the direction of the Archivist of the United States and in consultation with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the co-chairs of the Security Policy Board, shall issue such directives as are necessary to implement this order. These directives shall be binding upon the agencies. Directives issued by the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office shall establish standards for: (1) classification and marking principles; (2) agency security education and training programs; (3) agency self-inspection programs; and (4) classification and declassification guides. (b) The Archivist of the United States shall delegate the implementation and monitorship functions of this program to the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office." Sec. 4. Subsection (a) and the introductory clause and item (4) of subsection (b) of section 5.3 are amended as follows: (a) Subsection (a) shall read "(a) There is established within the National Archives and Records Administration an Information Security Oversight Office. The Archivist of the United States shall appoint the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office, subject to the approval of the President." (b) The introductory clause of subsection (b) shall read "Under the direction of the Archivist of the United States, acting in consultation with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office shall:". (c) Item (4) of subsection (b) shall read "(4) have the authority to conduct on-site reviews of each agency's program established under this order, and to require of each agency those reports, information, and other cooperation that may be necessary to fulfill its responsibilities. If granting access to specific categories of classified information would pose an exceptional national security risk, the affected agency head or the senior agency official shall submit a written justification recommending the denial of access to the President through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs within 60 days of the request for access. Access shall be denied pending the response,". William J. Clinton The White House, November 19, 1999.