01/04/08

Clarification: Bush-Freedom of Information

Eds: Members who used BC-Bush-Freedom of Information of Dec. 31 may wish to use the following, which explains that the bill doesn't explicitly reverse former Attorney General John Ashcroft's order to lean against disclosure when uncertain about any impact on national security.

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- In a Dec. 31 story, The Associated Press reported that Freedom of Information legislation signed by President Bush aims to reverse an order by former Attorney General John Ashcroft instructing agencies to lean against releasing information when there was uncertainty about how doing so would affect national security.

The story should have specified that the bill doesn't explicitly reverse Ashcroft's order in the wake of 9/11. However, sponsors say the legislation's intent is to require agencies to provide stronger justification when withholding information under the Freedom of Information Act.

The new law cites Supreme Court decisions for a "strong presumption in favor of disclosure" and states that "disclosure, not secrecy, is the dominant objective of the act."

"No matter who is the next president, he will have to run a government that is more open than in the past," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said when the bill passed the Senate.

Under the new law, agencies now must specify national security, law enforcement or privacy exemptions in denying information, but they don't have to provide a finding that those interests would be harmed by disclosure.

A House draft version of the bill explicitly reversed Ashcroft's order, but that language was stripped out at the insistence of the administration and Republican lawmakers.