[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 13 (Thursday, January 22, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S779-S780]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, from the start of his transition to the 
White House, I have urged President Obama to make a clear commitment to 
open government. By issuing his directive to strengthen one of our 
Nation's most important open government laws, the Freedom of 
Information Act, FOIA, the President is turning the page and moving 
away from the overreaching secrecy of the last administration. I 
commend President Obama for recognizing that our Government is 
accountable to the people it represents. I also commend the President 
for taking immediate steps during his first full days in office to send 
this important message to the American people.
  I was delighted with the answer of the President's nominee to be the 
next Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder, when I asked 
him at his confirmation hearing last week about how he intended to 
implement the Freedom of Information Act. He, too, believes that the 
presumption should be toward disclosure and openness. In fact, that was 
the policy before Attorney General Ashcroft reversed it.
  Today, our Government is more open and accountable to the American 
people than it was just a few weeks ago. With the President's new FOIA 
memorandum, the implementation of the first major reforms to FOIA in 
more than a decade in the Leahy-Cornyn OPEN Government Act, and the 
nomination of Eric H. Holder Jr., to be the Attorney General of the 
United States, the American people have more openness and 
accountability regarding the activities of the executive branch. I am 
pleased that the President also issued a

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Presidential Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government that will 
promote accountability and transparency in government and an Executive 
Order on Presidential records that will provide the American people 
with greater access to Presidential records.
  The right to know is a cornerstone of our democracy. Without it, 
citizens are kept in the dark about key policy decisions that directly 
affect their lives. Without open government, citizens cannot make 
informed choices at the ballot box. Without access to public documents 
and a vibrant free press, officials can make decisions in the shadows, 
often in collusion with special interests, escaping accountability for 
their actions. And once eroded, these rights are hard to win back.
  The Sunshine in Government Initiative has been vigilant and steadfast 
on behalf of open government. I have been pleased to work with this 
coalition of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Associated 
Press, Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, National Association of 
Broadcasters, National Newspaper Association, Newspaper Association of 
America, Radio-Television News Directors Association, Reporters 
Committee for Freedom of the Press, and Society of Professional 
Journalists in connection with these initiatives and correcting the 
government's presumption toward openness.
  As we celebrate the inauguration of our new President and the start 
of a new administration, we are reminded that a free, open, and 
accountable democracy is what our forefathers envisioned and fought to 
create. I believe that it is the duty of each new generation to protect 
this vital heritage and inheritance. In this new year, at this new and 
historic time for our Nation, I am pleased that we have once again 
reaffirmed a commitment to an open and transparent government on behalf 
of all Americans.

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