Tell your US Representative and two US Senators to support government openness bills

Happy Sunshine Week!

In recognition of the importance of government openness and transparency, Public Citizen is asking us to contact our congressmembers to support a few related bills. Go to their campaign web page and send your letter, or call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Tell your US Representative and two US Senators to improve transparency to our government by:

1. Supporting the immediate passage of the Presidential Records Act Amendments (H.R. 1225/S. 886) in the Senate to override a Bush Executive Order that is undermining the original purpose of the post-Watergate law.

2. Fully funding the Office of Government Information Services under the National Archives and Records Administration as the OPEN Government Act requires, instead of under the Department of Justice, which the Bush FY09 budget proposal suggests.

3. Protecting the rights of governmental whistleblowers by ensuring that the final conference bill tracks closely to the stronger House bill, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (H.R. 985).

4. Limiting presidential signing statements, so that a President can’t alter legislation with a stroke of a pen, as President Bush did when he nullified Congress’s whistleblower protections for government contractors in Iraq.

5. Bring the Senate into the 21st Century and pass S. 223, which provides for electronic disclosure and prompt Internet searchability of Senate campaign contributions. Senator Ensign should stop blocking enactment of the bill with his poison pill amendment!


Thank you for helping to ensure that our government is more transparent and accountable to the public.

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National Freedom of Information Coalition conference May 9-10 2008 in Philadelphia

The NFOIC - National Freedom of Information Coalition - will hold its national conference on May 9 - 10, 2008, in Philadelphia, PA. Called the "2008 FOI Summit", it promotes an active and informed citizenry; your participation is vital.

Please visit the conference web page for all of the details.

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Write articles on Helium in celebration of Sunshine Week March 16 to 22, 2008

Sunshine Week 2008 has partnered with Helium to offer authors opportunities to write about open government and Freedom of Information.

Sunshine Week, which will be celebrated March 16-22, 2008, engages people in conversations about open government and why it must be nurtured and protected. A non-partisan, good-government initiative led by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, it is joined by students, the online community, libraries, civic groups, government officials and agencies of all political stripe, non-profits and others.

Sunshine Week articles posted on Helium leverage the site's fair and trusted peer-review rating. Every article at Helium is sorted for quality in a simple, yet effective A versus B comparison. After many ratings by many people, quality content rises to the top.

Writers also have the opportunity to donate their article earnings to Sunshine Week.

Visit Sunshine week at Helium to write, learn and donate www.Helium.com/partner/sunshineweek.

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Positions on open government and Freedom of Information issues by the three major presidential candidates

In October of 2007, the then 16 presidential candidates were asked their positions on open government and Freedom of Information issues. Only Bill Richardson answered all of the questions; John Edwards answered some. In response, researchers for the Sunshine Campaign for Sunshine Week 2008 compiled a web page of how the remaining three major presidential candidates-- John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama-- stand on these issues.

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Sunshine Week is March 16- 22, 2008

As Judicial Watch says, open government is honest government. The American citizen, through the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act), has rights to request information, except homeland security-sensitive info, from the federal government; all states have laws regulating public information requests, too.

SunshineWeek.org has myriad materials for use free during Sunshine Week, March 16-22, by any participant. Some resources are themed specifically to the Sunshine Campaign initiative. Others are the general Sunshine Week items offered each year, such as editorial cartoons, logos and opinion columns.

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Freedom of Information Act passes-- requesting info from federal government now easier

Watchdog blog from Public Citizen reports on the legislative history of the recent FOIA bill signed into law by President Bush on December 31st.

For more than 40 years, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has been the
pillar of the framework for transparent government – the primary advocacy
instrument for deterring and exposing unchecked executive power. However,
since 9/11, FOIA has been hobbled by a doctrine of secrecy executed with
administrative delays and ploys to keep government records “in the shadows.”
The OPEN Government Act, signed into law on December 31, is the
first legislative update to FOIA since 1996 and a reassertion of checks and
balances. Now it will be easier for people to get information from their
government. The law provides for an online tracking system for requesters,
a government-wide office to deal with disputes and concerns, penalties for
offices that take too long to respond, a limit to agency “search” and
“duplication” fees, and reimbursement of attorney fees in some situations where
requesters must go to court.

All Things Reform has FOIA databases for your reference in the left-hand column.

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Check who your Congressmen meet with

Sunlight Foundation provides assistance to government database projects. One of these, the Punch Clock Campaign, asks Congressmembers to post on the internet many of their meetings. To date, there are just eight representatives involved; you may find one of your's enlisted. Although several types of meetings are not qualified for this, you will find some information about what your representative does on a day-to-day basis and with whom.

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Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007 bill held in the US Senate

The present Bush administration has been more secretive than previous presidents. Our Congress is continuously fighting our Executive branch for the release of information that is in the public's interest to review and act upon. One bill that both the US House and US Senate has introduced (the House "companion bill" was passed already) addresses Bush's Executive Order limiting any access to records of past presidents. OpenTheGovernment.org recently sent a letter with other good government groups to the leader of the Senate to move the Senate bill forward:

On November 19, forty groups, including OpenTheGovernment.org, sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid [D-NV] urging him to bring the Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007 bill [S. 886] to the floor. As reported in the October 16 edition of the Updates, Sen. Jim Bunning [R-KY] has a hold on the bill, but has refused to state his reasons for the hold.
The legislation would nullify the Bush executive order [E.O. 13233], which gave current and former presidents and vice presidents broad authority to withhold presidential records or delay their release indefinitely. The bill would also establish procedures for the timely release of records. On March 14, 2007, by a vote of 333-93, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the companion bill, H.R. 1255. Read background in the October 16 edition of the Updates and learn more from the National Coalition for History.

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Tell your Congressmen to sign Earmark Reform Pledge

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) is asking we, the people, to petition earmark reform to our own congressmen. In these days of increasing government transparency, earmarks are still difficult to remain open. Many congressmen would prefer not keep their unethical spending behavior available to the general public. CAGW asks us taxpayers to be diligent, however; here is their message. If you agree, simply take action here; or contact your two US Senators and one US Representative on your own, at each of their respective websites. You can find all of your representatives at the white widget on the left column of this blog.

Dear _,
I urge you to call on your U.S. Representative and Senators today to sign CCAGW’s
Earmark Reform Pledge!
The ink was barely dry on the “New Honest
Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007” when House and Senate leaders began looking for ways to circumvent or obstruct its earmark disclosure rules. CCAGW’s Earmark Reform Pledge aims to commit lawmakers to providing taxpayers with greater transparency and accountability for earmarks.
By signing the pledge, members of Congress agree to 10 provisions, including that they will:
* fully disclose all earmarked funding or targeted tax benefit requests on their
congressional websites;
* not request any earmarked funding or targeted tax
benefit provision that does not serve a federal interest and/or have a federal
nexus;
* not request any earmarked funding or targeted tax benefit provision
that would be directed toward a specific private entity that was not requested
by an agency; and,
* support legislation that would end the linkage between
campaign contributions and earmarks.
From 1995 to 2005, the number of appropriations earmarks grew nearly tenfold, from 1,439 to 13,997. It’s no coincidence that the proliferation of earmarks has corresponded with the debasement of the budgetary process in Washington. As the examples of former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.) and Jack Abramoff illustrate, lawmakers and lobbyists trade in earmarks as their “currency of corruption.” If House and Senate leaders are truly committed to overseeing “the most ethical Congress in history,” they should be making it easier, not more difficult, to follow the money trail. Please tell your Representative and Senators today to sign CCAGW’s Earmark Reform Pledge!
Sincerely,
Thomas A. Schatz, President

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New database of government documents

CREW, in conjunction with a coalition of government watchdog groups, has a new online government document database at governmentdocs.org. It houses Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) responses, and other government documents, from a number of organizations, that can be browsed, searched and reviewed. It is the only one of its kind. Organizations, including CREW, Project on Government Oversight, Public Citizen, Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Sunlight Foundation have contributed documents. The goal of the database is to create a central repository of government documents, promoting greater transparency into the inner-workings of our government. Check it out, at http://www.governmentdocs.org/.

Also check the left column for more government ethics information and databases.

UPDATE: Several government document databases for background research is now available in the left column, under "Other Government Databases".

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Call U.S. Senators Bunning and McConnell for presidential records reform

Over the course of his one and a half terms as president, George W. Bush has written into law a record number of Executive Orders. These orders are solely the work of our president, yet there are some of them enacted that are very controversial to segments of the American public. OpenTheGovernment.org is running a netroots campaign to help overturn those that concern the openness of presidential records of the present and former presidents:

The Presidential Records Act, enacted in 1978 following the Watergate scandal and the resignation of President Nixon, established that presidential records belong to the American people, not to the president. The Act gave custody of the records to the Archivist of the United States, established that records should be released to the public 12 years after the end of a presidential administration, and recognized presidential authority to assert executive privilege. On January 18, 1989, President Reagan, the first president to whom the Presidential Records Act applied, issued Executive Order 12667. The order established a process to deal with potential executive privilege claims.
In November 2001, President Bush issued Executive Order 13233, overturning the Reagan E.O. and giving current and former presidents and vice presidents broad authority to withhold presidential records or delay their release indefinitely. E.O. 13233 requires the incumbent president to sustain the executive privilege claim of a former president unless a court order is issued to reject the claim. The E.O. also gives "designees" of the former president the right to assert privilege, allowing relatives and others to delay the release of the president's records. Also under the Bush E.O., the Archivist must wait for both the current and former president to review the records to be released, which could lead to indefinite stalling. As recently reported by the New York Sun, President Clinton is accusing the current Bush administration of delaying the release of the former president's records. In late September Mr. Clinton said, "I want to open my presidential records more rapidly than the law requires, and the current administration has slowed down the opening of my own records."
Legislation currently being held up in the Senate would nullify the Bush executive order and establish procedures for the timely release of records. The "Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2007" (H.R. 1255; House Report 110-44) would reverse the Bush E.O. by establishing a deadline for the review of records, limiting the authority of former presidents to withhold records, requiring the president to make privilege claims personally, and eliminating the ability for Vice Presidents to assert executive privilege claims over vice presidential records. On March 14, 2007, by a vote of 333-93, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 1255. The legislation is currently being held up in the Senate by Sen. Jim Bunning [R-KY]. On September 24, Sen. Bunning objected to floor consideration of the bill, but did not state the reasons for his opposition.
On October 1, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly rejected part of President Bush's 2001 executive order in a civil lawsuit filed by the American Historic Association. The judge struck down the section of the E.O. that allows a former president to indefinitely delay the release of records.
In comments on the Senate floor on October 15, Sen. Jeff Bingaman [D-NM], the sponsor of the Senate version of the bill (S. 866), spoke of the need to pass H.R. 1255. He said, "The people of this Nation hired the President. His work is undertaken on behalf of the people. Can anyone doubt that the Nation is made stronger and our Government and the electorate are better served by the study of the actions of past Presidents?"
TAKE ACTION: Call Sens. Bunning and McConnell to ask them to allow the presidential records reform bill (H.R. 1255) to come to the Senate floor for a vote.

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No more replies from a couple of my representatives!

Well, I've lost touch with one of my U.S. Senators and my U.S. Representative. Not that they have stopped sending me multiple informational emails from their respective offices each week... Since last summer, all three of my federal representatives have just about stopped sending me any replies at any of my letters to them! Is anyone having the same responses lately?

This won't stop me at all from sending those personal letters from their website contact forms; nor, will I stop participating in selected public interest group "contact your Congressman" drives. However, they will know how increasingly dismayed I am as their owner, the American taxpayer.

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Reform the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and make it better

A coalition of groups has urged the U.S. Congress to pass a bill that would reform the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and make it work better for the public. The OPEN Government Act (S. 849) would enact common-sense reforms to the FOIA and put in place incentives for federal agencies to process FOIA requests from the public in a timely manner. It's supported by a wide range of organizations and individuals across the ideological, political, and economic spectrum.

S 849, proposed by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), is currently behind a closed door; however, it already has strong bipartisan support. And, the United States House of Representatives already passed a similar bill by an overwhelming majority vote (308-117) in March 2007 which included 80 Republicans. If it does pass in the Senate, it will be reconciled with the House version and presented to President Bush for his vote.

Good government is open and accountable government. Currently, it takes up to 20 years to have a FOIA request fulfilled; often times it gets lost in the process, or is challenged in court by the federal agency only to be fulfilled right before the court's decision. The OPEN Government Act, S 849, is common sense legislation in good faith with the American people, and it should be passed overwhelmingly by the Senate and our President. Good leaders enjoy a high level of respect and trust with their constituents back home.

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