In a separate
report, they documented that the U.S. government spent more than $7.7 billion in security
classification activities in fiscal year 2005, including $57 million in costs related to
over 25,000 documents that had been released being withdrawn from the public for
reclassification purposes.
The White House classified 44.5 million documents in 2001??“2003. That figure
equals the total number of classifications that President Clinton??™s administration made
during his entire second four-year term. In addition, more people are now allowed to
classify information than ever before. Bush granted classification powers to the Secretary
of Agriculture, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency. Previously, only national security agencies had been
given this type of privilege.
The terrorist threat has been used ???as an excuse to close the doors of the government???
states OMB Watch Government Secrecy Coordinator Rick Blum. Skeptics argue that the
government??™s increased secrecy policies don??™t always relate to security, even though that
is how they are presented. Some examples include the following:
??? The Homeland Security Act of 2002 offers companies immunity from lawsuits
and public disclosure if they supply infrastructure information to the
Department of Homeland Security.
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