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The 9/11 Commission continues to pursue access to essential documents according to this announcement of its intention to issue another subpoena, this time to New York City, in an effort to obtain “tapes and transcripts of 911 emergency calls…[and] transcripts of historical interviews with firefighters…conducted after the 9-11 attacks.”
“America after 9/11: Freedom Preserved or Freedom Lost?” Senate Judiciary Committee, Full Committee, hearing held November 18, 2003. Unfortunately, at this time no testimony or member statements have been posted online. However, here is a link to the testimony of the ACLU’s Nadine Strossen (thanks Marv!), to the testimony of the CDT’s James Dempsey, and …
From the National Security Archive at George Washington University: Justice Delayed is Justice Denied – The Ten Oldest Pending FOIA Requests – Some FOIA Requests Wait More Than Ten Years Without Being Processed- Annual FOIA Reports Do Not Answer Congress’s Question: How Long Does a FOIA Requester Wait? [Link] The National Security Archive, Freedom of …
“Welcome to the official website of the Thatcher Foundation, the largest contemporary history site of its kind. The site offers free access to the full texts of thousands of documents relating to the politics of the last quarter of a century.” [Link] Demand for Thatcher papers threatens to overwhelm website [LisNews]
On November 13, I posted 9-11 Commission to Gain Access to Selected White House Docs. However, several sources thereafter reported that the commission is now divided over its acceptance of White House terms for access to the documents, which provides that they will be edited prior to the commission’s reciept, to which only two of …
From FAS, news about this CRS report: “The occasional practice of holding closed door sessions of Congress is surveyed in Secret Sessions of Congress: A Brief Historical Overview by Mildred Amer, Congressional Research Service, updated August 5, 2003.”
Press release from the Markle Foundation: Study Shows Market Competition and Government Encouragement are Key Drivers of Growth of the Internet in China: “A two-year study of Internet use and its impact in China reveals that the key drivers behind its growth are market forces, including people’s increasing desire to go online and competition among …
According to CNN, the White House, after considerable delay, has finally agreed to provide the independent 9-11 Commission with selective access to the Daily Brief from both President’s Clinton and Bush. Commission member Max Cleland is quoted as being “disgusted” [by the deal], and ready to vote to subpoena documents from the White House. From …
From the Commission’s November 7 press release: “The Commission has encountered some serious delays in obtaining needed documents from the Department of Defense (DoD). We are especially dismayed by problems in the production of the records of activities of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and certain Air Force commands on September 11, 2001. …
The Memory Hole announced that it has added links to over 300 Congressional Research Service Reports (Long Reports, Short Reports, Issue Briefs, Appropriations Reports) that were recently removed from free public web access. These CRS research are only a selection of the total number published, and the editor of The Memory Hole website is actively …
Ths new report, by Stephen Pizzo, chronicles some of the most significant examples of how the current administration has curtailed public access to critical government documents. From the report: ““Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, an independent public advocacy group, says that the United States, is moving from a society based on the right …
Each year the Congressional Research Search (CRS) publishes approximately 1,000 reports of which the public may have access to several hundred. In an interesting change of policy, Secrecy News reports that access to selected reports previously provided via the websites of two members of Congress, Rep. Mark Green (R-WI) and Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT), has …
