BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhuanet) -- The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Thursday criticized Vice President Dick Cheney's idea of doing away with a U.S. government agency -- the Information Security Oversight Office -- charged with safeg uarding national security information.

    The committee also took Cheney to task for refusing to cooperate with the agency by exempting itself -- over the objections of the National Archives -- from a presidential executive order that seeks to protect national security information generated by the government.

    Under the order, executive branch offices are required to give the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) at the archives data on how much material it has classified and declassified.

    Cheney's office provided the information in 2001 and 2002, then stopped. Henry Waxman, chairman of the committee, said Cheney's office claims it need not comply with the executive order because it is not an "entity within the executive branch."

    "Your decision to except your office from the president's order is problematic because it could place national security secrets at risk," Waxman wrote in a letter to Cheney on Thursday.

    Waxman said J. William Leonard, ISOO director, told the panel that after he sought advice from the Justice Department, Cheney's office recommended the executive order be amended to abolish the ISOO. "I question both the legality and wisdom of your actions," Waxman said.

    Megan McGinn, a spokeswoman for the vice president, said Cheney's office was not breaking the law, but did not elaborate.

    The Information Security Oversight Office has asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resolve the legal dispute over whether the order applies to Cheney's office. So far, the Justice Department has not ruled on the issue.

    (Agencies)