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03/14/07
Sunshine Week 2007
Democrats
cite administration secrecy in pushing open government agenda
By JIM ABRAMS
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Open-government bills sped to House passage
Wednesday as Democrats pushed to make President Bush and his
executive branch more forthcoming about their actions. The
White House struck back with veto threats.
Aided by substantial Republican support, the Democrats approved
legislation to force government agencies to be more responsive
to the millions of Freedom of Information Act requests for
public documents they receive every year.
The House also easily passed bills to require donors to presidential
libraries to identify themselves -- an issue as Bush prepares
for his own library -- and to reverse a 2001 Bush decision
making it easier for presidents to keep their records from
public scrutiny.
Finally, lawmakers approved a bill to strengthen protection
for government whistle-blowers. They cited the failure to
expose faulty intelligence about prewar Iraq in expanding
protections for national security officials. Employees of
federal contractors, airport screeners and government scientists
facing retaliation for objecting to political influences are
also covered.
Prospects are good for the FOIA bill in the Senate, where
it has bipartisan support. The other bills also need Senate
action before they can go to the president.
The White House, citing the Bush's constitutional prerogatives,
warned that the presidential records bill would be vetoed
if it reached his desk. The White House issued a second veto
warning on the whistle-blower bill, saying it was unconstitutional
and compromised national security.
The votes were 390-34 on the presidential library bill; 333-93
on the presidential records bill; 308-117 on the FOIA legislation
and 331-94 on the whistle-blower bill.
All four are part of the media-led Sunshine Week. Democrats
are using the annual event to highlight what they say is a
disturbing level of secrecy in the Bush administration.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, meanwhile, heard testimony
on a parallel FOIA bill. Introduced by Sens. Patrick Leahy,
D-Vt., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, it would improve administration
of the law and penalize agencies that fail to comply in a
timely fashion.
Media representatives said seven agencies have gone more than
a decade without responding to some requests for information
under the law. They endorsed the bill's penalties, its provisions
to let people track the progress of their requests and its
plan to repay attorney fees in successful suits for records
that were denied.
Tom Curley, president and chief executive of The Associated
Press and a member of the media Sunshine in Government Initiative,
said AP's legal battles to get information about suspected
terrorists detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had cost "well
into six figures," but the Pentagon proposed to reimburse
only $11,000. Under current law, he said, "We'll have
to sue again to get a higher, fairer number."
The House bill goes a step further than the Senate version
in restoring a "presumption of disclosure" standard.
That would oblige agencies to release requested information
unless there is a finding that such a disclosure could do
harm.
The requirement would overturn a memo by former Attorney General
John Ashcroft after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, advising
against the release of information when there was uncertainty
over security or law enforcement exemptions.
The White House said in a statement it strongly opposed the
House provision, contending it would upset the balance between
the public's right to know and the need to safeguard certain
information.
The statement said the administration opposed the bill because
it was "premature and counterproductive" to legislate
new requirements on federal agencies before they have a chance
to put in place changes the president previously outlined.
The 40-year-old FOIA law was a promise that people could find
out what their government was doing "in all but a few
kinds of highly sensitive or confidential matters," Curley
said. "The law does back them. But in many cases the
government doesn't back the law."
Democrats claimed that situation has worsened under this administration.
"For the past six years, we have had an administration
that has tried to operate in secrecy, without transparency,
without the public having knowledge about their action,"
said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight
and Government Reform Committee. "Well, this week, Congress
is finally pushing back."
Caroline Fredrickson, director of the American Civil Liberties
Union's Washington legislative office, said the FOIA bill
was needed because "this has been the most secretive
administration since the Nixon years. ... It is too easy for
the government to defy requests for information it is obligated
to turn over."
The presidential records measure would rescind Bush's 2001
executive order giving current and former presidents and vice
presidents authority to withhold presidential records or delay
their release indefinitely.
The act was passed after Watergate "to underscore the
fact that presidential records belong to the American people,
not to the president," Waxman said. The presidential
directive, he said, "undermines the entire purpose"
of the act.
Sunshine Week, March 11-17, is a 3-year-old national initiative
led by the American Society of Newspaper Editors. It is intended
to open a dialogue about the importance of open government
and freedom of information. Participants include print, broadcast
and online news media, civic groups, libraries, non-profits,
schools and others.
___
Associated Press writer Michael J. Sniffen contributed to
this report.
On the Net:
Information on the House bills _ H.R. 1309 (FOIA); H.R. 1254
(libraries); H.R. 1255 (presidential records); and H.R. 985
(whistle-blowers): http://tinyurl.com/2tx5g4
Information on the Senate bill, S. 849, can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov
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