[Congressional Record: September 21, 2010 (Senate)]
[Page S7298-S7299]
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT AMENDMENTS
Mr. KAUFMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 567, S. 3717.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 3717) to amend the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, the Investment Company Act of 1940, and the Investment
Advisers Act of 1940 to provide for certain disclosures under
section 552 of title 5, United States Code, (commonly
referred to as the Freedom of Information Act), and for other
purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I commend the Senate for promptly taking up
the Freedom of Information Act amendments to the Securities Exchange
Act, Investment Company Act and Investment Advisers Act of 2010, S.
3717--an important, bipartisan bill to ensure that the Freedom of
Information Act FOIA remains an effective tool to provide public access
to information about the stability of our financial markets. This bill
eliminates several broad FOIA exemptions for Security and Exchange
Commission--SEC--records that were recently enacted as part of the
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The bill
will also help ensure that the SEC has access to the information that
the Commission needs to carry out its new enforcement activities under
the new reforms.
I thank Senators Grassley, Cornyn, and Kaufman for cosponsoring this
important open government bill, and for working with me to promptly
address this issue. I commend the many open government organizations,
including OpenTheGovernment.org, the Project on Government Oversight,
the American Library Association and the Sunlight Foundation for their
support of this bill. I also thank the distinguished chairman of the
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Representative
Edolphus Towns, for introducing a companion bill, H.R. 6086, in the
House of Representatives.
I supported the historic Wall Street reform law, because that law
takes significant strides toward enhancing transparency and
accountability in our financial system. But, I am concerned that the
FOIA exemptions in section 9291 of that law, which was originally
drafted in the House of Representatives and included in the final
legislation, could be interpreted and implemented in a way that
undermines this very important goal.
The Freedom of Information Act has long recognized the need to
balance the government's legitimate interest in protecting confidential
business records, trade secrets and other sensitive information from
public disclosure, and preserving the public's right to know. To
accomplish this, care must always be taken to ensure that exemptions to
FOIA's disclosure requirements are narrowly and properly applied.
When Congress enacted the FOIA exemptions in section 929I, we sought
to ensure that the SEC had access to the information that the
Commission needed to protect American investors--not to shield
information from the public. I
[[Page S7299]]
am also troubled by attempts in recent weeks to retroactively apply
these exemptions to pending FOIA matters.
I am also troubled by the sweeping interpretation that the Commission
has expressed, to date, that these exemptions would shield from public
scrutiny all information provided to the Commission in connection with
its broad examination and surveillance activities.
To truly restore stability and accountability to our financial
system, Congress should take immediate steps to clarify this matter and
eliminate overly broad FOIA exemptions. Not surprisingly, there is
growing concern about these exemptions from across the ideological and
political spectrum.
I have said many times that open government is neither a Democratic
issue, nor a Republican issue--it is truly an American value and virtue
that we all must uphold. It is in this bipartisan spirit that Senators
from both sides of the aisle have joined together to pass this bill. I
urge the House of Representatives to enact this good government bill
without delay.
Mr. KAUFMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be
read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the
table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related
to the bill be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The bill (S. 3717) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading,
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:
S. 3717
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. APPLICATION OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT TO
CERTAIN STATUTES.
(a) Amendments to the Securities and Exchange Act.--Section
24 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78x), as
amended by section 929I(a) of the Dodd-Frank Consumer
Financial Protection and Wall Street Reform Act (Public Law
111-203), is amended by striking subsection (e) and inserting
the following:
``(e) Freedom of Information Act.--For purposes of section
552(b)(8) of title 5, United States Code, (commonly referred
to as the Freedom of Information Act)--
``(1) the Commission is an agency responsible for the
regulation or supervision of financial institutions; and
``(2) any entity for which the Commission is responsible
for regulating, supervising, or examining under this title is
a financial institution.''.
(b) Amendments to the Investment Company Act.--Section 31
of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-30), as
amended by section 929I(b) of the Dodd-Frank Consumer
Financial Protection and Wall Street Reform Act (Public Law
111-203), is amended--
(1) by striking subsection (c); and
(2) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as subsections
(c) and (d), respectively.
(c) Amendments to the Investment Advisers Act.--Section 210
of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b-10), as
amended by section 929I(c) of the Dodd-Frank Consumer
Financial Protection and Wall Street Reform Act (Public Law
111-203), is amended by striking subsection (d).
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