Public Access to Gov Docs Faces Increasing Limitations

From Slate, The Age of Missing Information – The Bush administration’s campaign against openness.

  • Formal Statement, J. William Leonard, Director, Information Security Oversight Office, National Archives and Records Administration, before the Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives, March 2, 2005: “Classification is an important fundamental principle when it comes to national security, but it need not and should not be an automatic first principle. In certain circumstances, even with respect to national security information, classification can run counter to our national interest. The decision to classify information or not is ultimately the prerogative of agency original classification authorities. The exercise of agency prerogative to classify certain information, of course, has ripple effects throughout the entire executive branch. For example, it can serve as an impediment to sharing information with another agency, with State or local officials, or with the public, who genuinely need to know the information.”
    • LinkedIn
    Posted in: Freedom of Information
    ➤