Declassification of records is more than an "additional responsibility"

[histhermann]

Declassification of classified records should not be seen as an "additional responsibility," which GavinRBaker pointed out back in 2017, but something more important. The same can be said about FOIA requests and actions on classified and unclassified information. Furthermore, the language about "mediating Freedom of Information Act disputes," sounds somewhat hostile, and would be better to say "fulfilling Freedom of Information Act requests." This should be better connected with the goal for reduction in the time it takes NARA "to start complex FOIA requests for unclassified records" in the proposed draft strategic plan. Perhaps, the sentence "NARA is charged with additional responsibilities, including appropriate declassification of classified national security information, mediating Freedom of Information Act disputes, and overseeing agency actions regarding classified and controlled, unclassified information" could be reworded to note the importance of these issues, possibly using this language: "NARA fosters governmental openness and transparency, in line with existing information policy and law, by fulfilling Freedom of Information Act requests, declassifying sensitive national security records, and overseeing agency declassification efforts on classified and unclassified records."