CHENEY SOUGHT TO ABOLISH SECRECY OVERSIGHT OFFICE

The Office of Vice President Dick Cheney proposed to abolish the
Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), the executive branch
organization that oversees the national security classification system,
after its Director insisted that the Vice President comply with
reporting requirements that apply to all executive branch entities.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee
(oversight.house.gov) who revealed the move today, said in a letter to
the Vice President that it "could be construed as retaliation" against
ISOO.

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2007_cr/waxman062107.pdf

The proposed change in ISOO's status was ultimately rejected by an
interagency review group which is considering revisions to the
executive order on classification policy.

The dispute between ISOO and the Office of the Vice President was
prompted by a complaint filed with ISOO by the Federation of American
Scientists in May 2006 (Secrecy News, 05/31/06). The FAS complaint
noted that the OVP had ceased to comply with its obligation to submit
an annual report on classification and declassification activity, and
asked the ISOO Director to enforce the requirement.

When the OVP continued to resist compliance, ISOO Director J. William
Leonard formally asked the Attorney General in January 2007 to
intervene and to render an interpretation of the executive that would
resolve the dispute in one direction or another.

A truncated copy of the ISOO letter to the Attorney General, with two
attachments missing, was released by Rep. Waxman today. A complete
copy of the January 9, 2007 letter is available here:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/isoo/isoo-ag.pdf

The Attorney General has not responded to the ISOO letter.