U.S. Announces More Transparency And Synergy At Governmental Levels

Tejinder Singh – AHN Correspondent Washington, D.C. (AHN) – The U.S. governmental agencies dealing with information necessary to protect the nation from terrorist activities, violent crime and other threats will in the future adapt to improved synergies and increased transparency when dealing with “Sensitive but Unclassified (SBU) information.” According to governmental officials, SBU refers collectively to the various designations used within the Executive Branch for documents and information that are sufficiently sensitive to warrant some level of protection but that do not meet the standards for classification. In a joint statement releasing the 50 page report today, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder announced two major steps in their efforts to implement reforms to enhance information sharing among federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies and safeguard sensitive information used by the government. The joint statement stressed, “The recommendations also enhance government transparency by establishing clear rules that protect information only when there is a compelling need to do so.” “Our review of policies and procedures for access to and sharing of sensitive but unclassified information across the U.S. Government revealed a need for a more open, standardized approach,” said Secretary Napolitano. “The task force recommendations, coupled with newly-dedicated federal-wide resources to support Fusion Centers, will improve information sharing, transparency and engagement with our partners in state and local law enforcement as we work together to combat terrorism, violent crime and other dangerous threats to the homeland.” The Presidential Interagency Task Force on Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), led by Secretary Napolitano and Attorney General Holder also announced the creation of dual Program Management Offices (PMOs) to coordinate support for state and local Fusion Centers and the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative (NSI), housed within DHS and the Department of Justice (DOJ), respectively, to work in partnership to enhance information sharing between federal, state, local and tribal agencies and the private sector. Coupled with the CUI framework, these new offices represent a significant milestone toward fully implementing information sharing reforms called for following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. “Our recommendations will allow the federal government to be more open and transparent while still meeting our first priority of keeping the American people safe,” said Attorney General Holder. “By streamlining and modernizing the system for designating, marking and handling sensitive information, we can achieve the appropriate balance between the public’s right to access information and the government’s imperative to maintain the security and privacy of all Americans.” Both announcements reflect the Obama administration’s commitment to improving the ability of federal, state, and local governments as well as the private sector to gather, analyze, share and utilize information in order to protect communities from violent crime including terrorism, while protecting the privacy and civil rights of Americans. This was highlighted in the joint communique saying, “directed by your May 27, 2009 Memorandum, we established an Interagency Task Force to review current procedures for categorizing and sharing Sensitive but Unclassified (“SBU”) information.” The Task Force conducted a 90-day review of the Controlled Unclassified Information (“CUI”) Framework for terrorism-related information within the information sharing environment established by Presidential Memorandum in 2008, and considered whether that Framework should be expanded to apply to all SBU information under the control of the Executive Branch. According to the report details, the Task Force, which involved senior representatives from 12 federal agencies, met with representatives both within and outside the information sharing environment; state, local and tribal partners; privacy and open government organizations; and members of Congress. The Task Force also analyzed previous studies of SBU and the efforts of the CUI Council. Article © AHN – All Rights Reserved