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Let Freedom Ring
By Maurice J. Freedman
What if you want to find out if toxic chemicals
are buried under your child's schoolyard? How could you tell if your
veterans' benefits hinged on proving you were exposed to biohazards
during a top-secret mission? Or perhaps a candidate for your city
council wants to better understand formerly classified plans for
emergency evacuation.
These days, it's possible, with considerable
patience, determination, and a few clicks of a mouse, to file a
request for answers to questions like these and a broad range of
government information that are critical to our lives, work, health
and well being.
But like registering to vote, in some places and
for some people, this precious freedom hasn't always been so easy to
exercise.
The main tool for such fact-finding, the Freedom
of Information Act, known as FOIA, which we honor each year on the
anniversary of James Madison's birthday, was first enacted on July 4,
1966. Before that, anyone who wanted to get records from the federal
government had to establish his or her legal right to examine those
records. That was expensive, time-consuming and a barrier for
countless legitimate requests for information on issues from whether
the nuclear reactor downwind had a record of safety violations to how
the Nixon administration tried to deport John Lennon as detailed in
his FBI files.
With FOIA, the burden shifted to government
agencies, requiring them to meet these requests unless they fell
within a handful of specific national security exemptions. Indeed,
since then, any decision by an agency to withhold a document could be
challenged in federal court.
From John Lennon's or Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr.'s FBI files to records of debates on whether to use nuclear
weapons in Vietnam, FOIA requests now run the gamut of what we need to
know about what our government is doing with our tax dollars in our
name. Whether it's internal NASA memos about space shuttle safety or
exchanges among federal officials about Japanese internment camps
during World War II, our right to know about the deliberations and
actions of our federal government is a cornerstone of American
democracy.
In 1974, in reaction to Watergate, Congress moved
to strengthen FOIA. Unwilling to let our country be run more like a
closed corporation than an open, democratic society, this change
allowed courts to order the release of documents, even when the
President said they couldn't be made public.
Our system of representative democracy depends on
the free flow of information produced, collected and published by our
government and available to the public so we can participate as an
informed electorate.
Since the early 19th century,
libraries have served as depositories for the written record of our
nation's development and gateways to the decisions of its leaders,
thus assuring public access to government information. Today, 21st-century
librarians are committed to ensuring the public's right to know is
protected in the electronic age. As organizers, navigators and
providers of government information that serves the public, we help
file FOIA requests and otherwise support freedom of information @ your
library.
Many Americans depend on access to information
collected, organized and disseminated by the federal government – from
farmers and health care professionals, to journalists and veterans,
community interest groups to local and state government officials, and
indeed, all voters.
Americans come to libraries to find Census and
other statistics; to help plan new business and marketing strategies;
to research environmental issues and hazards, laws and regulations;
and to learn about job opportunities from government and other
employment lists.
The ongoing transition to predominantly
electronic transmission of federal information offers both promise and
problems for the public in this realm. Information that is only in
electronic form quickly appears on – and as quickly disappears from –
Web sites. There is often no one charged with capturing, preserving or
making electronic data available to future generations, as well as
those, who for a variety of reasons, cannot access or work with
electronic information.
True national security is built on a vibrant
democracy and a well-informed citizenry, not a culture of secrecy.
Said James Madison, on whose birthday we mark Freedom of Information
Day, "Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean
to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which
knowledge gives." Although he wrote in response to abuses by Britain's
King George III, his warnings ring equally true today.
Every country has hospitals, police and schools.
But only free countries allow the free flow of ideas. Free libraries
are the hub of public access to government information. Challenges to
an informed citizenry range from the complexity and inequality in
information technology to illiteracy, limited information literacy
skills and unequal access to education and information resources.
Thankful for our freedoms, we must do our best as
we prepare to fight halfway around the world to ensure that we
continue to guard with unrelenting vigilance the right to know here at
home.
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Maurice J. "Mitch" Freedman is President of the
American Library Association. Sunday, March 16, the anniversary of
James Madison's birthday, is Freedom of Information Day. |
