[Congressional Record: July 29, 2011 (Senate)]
[Page S5062-S5065]
ESTABLISHING THE COMMISSION ON FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT PROCESSING
DELAYS
[...]
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, this evening, the Senate is considering S.
627, as amended by the House of Representatives--the bill now called
the Budget Control Act of 2011. Earlier this week, the House Republican
Leadership used a procedural maneuver to strip from this bill
bipartisan provisions to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act,
FOIA, that unanimously passed the Senate. I urge the Senate to restore
the bipartisan Leahy-Cornyn Faster FOIA Act of 2011, as originally and
unanimously passed by the Senate in May, when the Senate considers its
budget bill.
The Faster FOIA Act enjoys broad bipartisan support from across the
political spectrum. The Senate unanimously passed this bill in May,
after the Judiciary Committee favorably reported the bill by voice
vote. Recently, more than 35 transparency organizations urged the House
Committee on
[[Page S5065]]
Oversight and Government Reform to act on this legislation. On Tuesday,
the Washington Post editorialized that the House should promptly enact
this bipartisan bill to improve the FOIA process.
Senator Cornyn and I first introduced the Faster FOIA Act in 2005, to
address the growing problem of excessive FOIA delays within our Federal
agencies. During the intervening years, the problem of excessive FOIA
delays has not gone away. We reintroduced this bill in 2010, and the
Senate unanimously passed it last year. The current bill is the most
recent product of our bipartisan work to help reinvigorate FOIA.
The Faster FOIA Act would establish a bipartisan Commission on
Freedom of Information Act Processing Delays to examine the root causes
of excessive FOIA delays. The Commission would recommend to Congress
and the President steps that should be taken to reduce these delays, so
that the administration of the FOIA is more equitable and efficient.
The Faster FOIA Act will help ensure the dissemination of government
information to the American people, so that our democracy remains
vibrant and free. This is a laudable goal that we all share. Neither
Chamber of Congress should allow partisan politics to obstruct the
important goal of this bill.
The ongoing debate in Congress about the national debt has made clear
that we must find ways to work together, across party lines and
ideologies, to address the many challenges facing our Nation. This
bipartisan spirit is at the core of the Faster FOIA Act. 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. I urge the Senate to include the Faster FOIA Act in its
budget bill, and I urge the Congress to promptly enact this good
government measure.
I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the letters in
support of reinstating the Faster FOIA Act in the final debt ceiling
package.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Sunshine in Government Initiative,
Arlington, VA, July 29, 2011.
Hon. Harry Reid,
U.S. Senate.
Hon. Mitch McConnell,
U.S. Senate.
Hon. John Boehner,
U.S. House of Representatives.
Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
U.S. House of Representatives.
Dear Majority Leader Reid, Minority Leader McConnell,
Speaker Boehner, and Minority Leader Pelosi: We urge the
Congress to reinstate the bipartisan, uncontroversial
language strengthening the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
that was removed from S. 627, the Faster FOIA Act, as it was
amended to address the unrelated issue surrounding the debt
limit. The original language would create a bipartisan
commission to recommend concrete ways to strengthen
transparency in the federal government and has broad,
bipartisan support.
The Sunshine in Government Initiative is a coalition of
media associations promoting government transparency,
especially focusing on FOIA. SGI members include the American
Society of News Editors, the Associated Press, Association of
Alternative Newsweeklies, National Newspaper Association,
Newspaper Association of America, Radio Television Digital
News Association, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the
Press and Society of Professional Journalists.
Especially in this fiscal environment, the Faster FOIA
Commission would help the public understand how taxpayer
dollars are being spent by bringing together experts inside
and outside the government to look ``under the hood'' of
agency FOIA operations and to propose within a year the most
realistic, effective and cost-efficient improvements to
improve government transparency.
The Freedom of Information Act is the vital law that helps
ensure the public can see what its government is up to while
protecting personal privacy, national security, trade secrets
and other important interests. The Commission's work should
provide timely insight to help inform next steps that
Congress with your leadership might undertake to strengthen
transparency in the federal government.
Sincerely,
Rick Blum,
Coordinator.
____
July 28, 2011.
Hon. Harry Reid,
Majority Leader, U.S. Senate, The Capitol, Washington, DC.
Hon. John Boehner,
Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives, The Capitol,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Mitch McConnell,
Minority Leader, U.S. Senate, The Capitol, Washington, DC.
Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
Minority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives, The Capitol,
Washington, DC.
Dear Majority Leader Reid, Minority Leader McConnell,
Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader Pelosi: On behalf of the
undersigned organizations concerned with government openness
and accountability, we are writing to urge you to restore the
bipartisan Faster FOIA provisions in S. 627, now known as the
Budget Control Act of 2011.
This week, Speaker Boehner took S. 627 as a vehicle for his
budget bill. This procedural maneuver could shave a few days
off of Senate consideration, should the House pass the
Boehner budget control bill. However, in doing so, the
Speaker unnecessarily stripped the Faster FOIA Act from
S.627, completely replacing the language with the budget
bill. If the Faster FOIA language is not restored in S. 627,
the bipartisan progress made by the Senate on the legislation
will be wiped out. This is a setback for openness and
accountability in the executive branch, and bipartisan action
in Congress.
The Senate unanimously passed the Faster FOIA Act, authored
by Senator Leahy (D-VT) and Senator Cornyn (R-TX) in May. The
legislation would establish the Commission on Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) Processing Delays (the Commission) to
examine several thorny issues that create unreasonable bars
to public access under the FOIA and recommend to Congress and
the President steps that should be taken to reduce delays and
make the administration of the FOIA equitable and efficient
throughout the federal government.
The Faster FOIA Act enjoys strong support among a broad
range of non-governmental organizations. Recently, more than
35 organizations joined to urge the House Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform to act on the legislation. A
recent editorial in the Washington Post also called on the
House to embrace the bill in the same bipartisan spirit as
the Senate in the interest of improving the FOIA process.
We urge you to advance openness and accountability to
restore the bipartisan Faster FOIA provisions in S. 627. We
thank you in advance for your consideration of our request.
Sincerely,
American Library Association, Citizens for Responsibility
and Ethics in Washington--CREW, Electronic Frontier
Foundation, Freedom of Information Center at the
Missouri School of Journalism, Fund for Constitutional
Government, National Freedom of Information Coalition,
National Security Archive, OMB Watch,
OpenTheGovernment.org, Project On Government
Oversight--POGO, Public Citizen, Reporters Committee
for Freedom of the Press.
____________________
