[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 127 (Tuesday, September 21, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7298-S7299]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 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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