US Code

Public Law 119-87 (04/30/2026)

50 U.S.C. § 3345

Limitation on handling, retention, and storage of certain classified materials by the Department of State

(a)

Certification regarding full compliance with requirements

The Director of Central Intelligence shall certify to the appropriate committees of Congress whether or not each covered element of the Department of State is in full compliance with all applicable directives of the Director of Central Intelligence relating to the handling, retention, or storage of covered classified material.

(b)

Limitation on certification

The Director of Central Intelligence may not certify a covered element of the Department of State as being in full compliance with the directives referred to in subsection (a) if the covered element is currently subject to a waiver of compliance with respect to any such directive.

(c)

Report on noncompliance

Whenever the Director of Central Intelligence determines that a covered element of the Department of State is not in full compliance with any directive referred to in subsection (a), the Director shall promptly notify the appropriate committees of Congress of such determination.

(d)

Effects of certification of non-full compliance

(1)
Subject to subsection (e), effective as of , a covered element of the Department of State may not retain or store covered classified material unless the Director has certified under subsection (a) as of such date that the covered element is in full compliance with the directives referred to in subsection (a).
(2)
If the prohibition in paragraph (1) takes effect in accordance with that paragraph, the prohibition shall remain in effect until the date on which the Director certifies under subsection (a) that the covered element involved is in full compliance with the directives referred to in that subsection.
(e)

Waiver by Director of Central Intelligence

(1)
The Director of Central Intelligence may waive the applicability of the prohibition in subsection (d) to an element of the Department of State otherwise covered by such prohibition if the Director determines that the waiver is in the national security interests of the United States.
(2)
The Director shall submit to appropriate committees of Congress a report on each exercise of the waiver authority in paragraph (1).
(3)
Each report under paragraph (2) with respect to the exercise of authority under paragraph (1) shall set forth the following:
(A)
The covered element of the Department of State addressed by the waiver.
(B)
The reasons for the waiver.
(C)
The actions that will be taken to bring such element into full compliance with the directives referred to in subsection (a), including a schedule for completion of such actions.
(D)
The actions taken by the Director to protect any covered classified material to be handled, retained, or stored by such element pending achievement of full compliance of such element with such directives.
(f)

Definitions

In this section:
(1)
The term “appropriate committees of Congress” means the following:
(A)
The Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
(B)
The Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on International Relations of the House of Representatives.
(2)
The term “covered classified material” means any material classified at the Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) level.
(3)
The term “covered element of the Department of State” means each element of the Department of State that handles, retains, or stores covered classified material.
(4)
The term “material” means any data, regardless of physical form or characteristic, including written or printed matter, automated information systems storage media, maps, charts, paintings, drawings, films, photographs, engravings, sketches, working notes, papers, reproductions of any such things by any means or process, and sound, voice, magnetic, or electronic recordings.
(5)
The term “Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) level”, in the case of classified material, means a level of classification for information in such material concerning or derived from intelligence sources, methods, or analytical processes that requires such information to be handled within formal access control systems established by the Director of Central Intelligence.

Pub. L. 106–567, title III, § 309114 Stat. 2840 (, , .)

Editorial Notes

Codification

section 435a of this titleSection was formerly classified to prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Pub. L. 108–458section 3001 of this titleReference to the Director of Central Intelligence or the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Director’s capacity as the head of the intelligence community deemed to be a reference to the Director of National Intelligence. Reference to the Director of Central Intelligence or the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Director’s capacity as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency deemed to be a reference to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. See section 1081(a), (b) of , set out as a note under .

Committee on International Relations of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Foreign Affairs of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 6, One Hundred Tenth Congress, .