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“Today the House of Representatives passed four good government bills. H.R. 985 enhances protections offered to federal whistleblowers, H.R. 1255 strengthens the Freedom of Information Act, H.R. 1255 makes clear that presidential records belong to the public, and H.R. 1254 requires organizations that raise money for presidential libraries to disclose information about their donors. H.R. …
Press release: “U.S. Senate legislation to implement unfinished recommendations of the 9/11 commission includes a bipartisan amendment to declassify the Executive Summary of the CIA Inspector Generals Report on 9/11. The CIA report is the only major 9/11 government review that has not been made public, a fact that the Vice Chairman of the U.S. …
Via FAS: “The steps by which the Justice Department conducts investigations of unauthorized disclosures of classified information (“leaks”) were described by then-Attorney General Janet Reno in 2000 testimony before a closed hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee.” [see this committee press release] Ms. Reno’s testimony included the following statement: “In addition to the difficulties of …
Press release: “A nationwide information audit, conducted as a prelude to Sunshine Week, found slightly more than four in 10 of the official gatekeepers willing if wary to provide copies of emergency response plans, which federal law makes public. Other local officials, however, reacted to requests with confusion, outright denials and sometimes by …
“Sunshine Week is a national initiative 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 interested in the public’s right to know. Sunshine Week is led by the American Society of Newspaper Editors and is …
National Security Archive: “Ten years after Congress enacted the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments (E-FOIA), only one in five federal agencies actually complies with the law, according to a new survey released today during Sunshine Week by the National Security Archive. Passed in 1996 and effective in 1997, E-FOIA ordered federal agencies to post …
“On March 5, 2007, Reps. Wm. Lacy Clay, Todd Russell Platts, and Henry A. Waxman introduced H.R. 1309, the Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 2007. This legislation contains a dozen substantive provisions that will increase public access to government information by strengthening the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). On March 6, the Subcommittee on …
House Subcommittee Hearing: “The State of the [Freedom of Information Act]: Assessing Agency Efforts to Meet FOIA Requirements” – On February 14, 2007, the Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, in the House of Representatives held a hearing entitled “The State of the FOIA: Assessing Agency Efforts …
Press release: “The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed suit against the Department of Justice today, demanding records about secret new court orders that supposedly authorize the government’s highly controversial electronic surveillance program that intercepts and analyzes millions of Americans’ communications.” FOIA complaint filed against the Justice Department Related postings on the government’s domestic surveillance program
Press release: “Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Subcommittee Chairwoman Linda Sanchez (D-CA) released a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report [U.S. Attorneys Who Have Served Less than Full Four-year Terms, 1981-2006, February 22, 2007] showing the recent firing of seven U.S. Attorneys is unprecedented. Conyers and Sanchez requested the study, which found …
Press release: “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has sued the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) today for its failure to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records related to global warming science and policy. CREW filed its FOIA request after media reports — including a 60 Minutes piece …
CBO Testimony – Statement of Allison Percy, Principal Analyst, Future Medical Spending by the Department of Veterans Affairs before the Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Committee on Appropriations, U.S. House of Representatives, February 15, 2007.
