Coinciding with the release of a Government Accountability
Office report citing the need for quick action to overcome
challenges facing the federal government’s sizable security
clearance backlog, President Bush has signed an executive
order implementing provisions of security clearance reform
authored by Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis,
R-Va., as part of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism
Prevention Act of 2004.
Davis said the executive order creates a framework for the
Office of Management and Budget to work with agencies to
streamline the clearance process, something that makes
sense because OMB is positioned to manage the effort, which
spans cabinet departments and agencies.
“The signing of Executive Order 13381 is a major step
forward on the road to meaningful security clearance
process reform. Large backlogs, long wait times, and
convoluted bureaucratic hierarchies have plagued this
process for years, endangering national security and
costing the taxpayers millions of dollars a year,”
according to Davis.
He said he authored language creating an “oversight
regime” so security clearance policy is consistently
applied across agencies to reduce the backlog that’s
in the tens of thousands.
