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Saturday, June 25, 2005
Senate moves to bolster Freedom of Information Act
WASHINGTON -- The Senate unanimously approved legislation yesterday that would force lawmakers to explicitly mark information that is exempted from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA.
The legislation, introduced by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., seeks to stop lawmakers from inserting exemptions into bills up for consideration without a full public hearing on whether the information should be kept from the public.
"If Congress is to establish a new exemption to FOIA, it should do so in the open and in the light of day," Cornyn said following passage of the bill. "Congress should not establish new secrecy provisions through secret means."
The legislation was approved by voice vote and now heads to the House for approval. Cornyn hopes that the House will swiftly pass it next week so President Bush can sign it into law before July 4, the 39th anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act.
The controversial exemption is one of nine the government can use to deny the release of information requested under the FOI Act.
Open government advocates say it is the most troubling of the nine exemptions because Congress cloaks vital information in secrecy through legislation, often without a public hearing or debate.
They say Congress frequently invokes the exemption to appease private sector businesses, which argue that it is necessary to protect proprietary information.
The bill was originally part of a broader measure introduced by Cornyn and Leahy to overhaul the FOI Act. Its passage by the Senate raised hopes of open government advocates that other legislative efforts to improve the act would be approved in the coming months.
"I think it's a very good step forward," said Kevin Goldberg, general counsel for the American Society of Newspaper Editors. The legislation bolsters the cause for strengthening the act, he said.
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