Council Passes Three Resolutions at Annual Meeting

Resolution Concerning Grenadan Archival Materials

The AHA received an enquiry from the State Department requesting our advice on the disposition of documentary ma­terials which came into its possession during the military operations in Grena­da. The Research Division discussed the matter and drafted a resolution which it recommended to Council. The Council adopted the resolution, which appears below.

The American Historical Association calls upon the government of the United States to reaffirm its support of the principle that archives belong in the country in which they were created. In accordance with this principle, all records seized on the island of Grenada should be temporarily transferred from all US government agencies now holding them to the National Archives. In the National Archives they can be properly and professionally cared for pending their return to Grenada.

Statement on Legislation Concerning Security Classification

Members will recall that the AHA has been vigorously concerned about open­ness and access to documentary materi­als by historians and fellow citizens. Numerous actions have been taken by the federal government over the past three years which have had the effect of re­stricting access to information. The Council adopted two important motions recommended to it by the Research Di­vision. The first concerns the classifica­tion of documents and proposes a long-term solution that will strike at the root cause of the current classification prob­lem. The classification guidelines advo­cate that our nation’s classification poli­cy be based on statute, i.e., amendment to federal legislation, rather than discre­tionary executive orders emanating from the executive branch, and further recommends criteria for declassifying government information.

The security classification system of the United States is based partly on legislation and partly on executive order. To assure some uniformity in the system, to provide a reasonable balance between the national interest in the protection of secrets and the national interest in the public’s right to know about its own government, and to cope with the practical and financial problems of a growing accumulation of classified documents, we advocate the following changes in the security classification system:

1. The Federal Records Act should be amended to establish basic criteria for all forms of security classification systems in all agencies of the United States Government.
2. While the President and federal agencies will have the authority to notify in the Federal Register and subsequently to promulgate detailed implementing regulations, we recommend that this amendment include the following criteria for declassifying government information:
   1. Security classification will be valid only if a terminal date is integrally included in the original classification. The classification period will not exceed twenty (20) years except for documents pertaining to cryptology, intelligence sources and methods, and agent operations in regard to which the classification period will not exceed forty (40) years.
   2. Any extension of classification beyond the terminal date marked on a document shall be valid only if that extension contains an integrally included terminal date no more than five (5) years beyond the one marked on the document.
   3. Agencies that generate classified documents shall be responsible for the costs of declassification review of existing classified documents and extension of classification of documents with a specified declassification date. The costs shall be charged to the budgets of originating agencies regardless of where the review occurs.
   4. No documents generated by US Government agencies shall be withheld or withdrawn from public scrutiny on grounds of national security unless their classification has been effected in accordance with these criteria.

Resolution on National Security Decision Directive 84

The second item speaks to a more specific but not unrelated concern, and registers the association’s objection to National Security Decision Directive 84. If and when the Directive becomes op­erative, it would impose a lifetime of censorship on high-level government employees and former employees.

The American Historical Association opposes the National Security Decision Directive 84. We support the action of the United States Senate in blocking its implementation and we urge the President of the United States to reconsider the sweeping and damaging implications this Directive would have on free public debate and discourse. This Directive, if implemented, would impose a lifetime of censorship on federal officials with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information. As an organization dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and enhancement of knowledge, the American Historical Association views this Directive as a dangerous threat to the ability of historians and others to compile an honest, open, and uncensored record of the history of this nation. It would choke off the flow of information that is so vital to an understanding of the nation’s history and, thus, of the choices facing the American public.

The Council expressed deep appreci­ation to Vice-President for Research Gerhard Weinberg for the care and diligence he has brought to the study of these problems.