Sen. Gary Peters Introduces Bill to Increase Declassification of Government Documents

Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) has introduced legislation to streamline the declassification of government documents, increasing transparency and information-sharing across government agencies. “Our current classification system is not just costly, outdated, and inefficient—it’s a growing crisis that undermines both our national security and government transparency,” Mr. Peters, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in a statement on July 29. The Classification Reform for Transparency Act, introduced on July 9, is co-sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn (D-Texas). The bill would establish a presidential task force to oversee the declassification process and remove some exemptions that prevent documents from being automatically made public....