Senate Judiciary Committee
Okays Bipartisan Leahy-Cornyn Bill
To Strengthen FOIA

. . . Legislation Fosters More Open, Accountable Government

WASHINGTON (Thursday, April 12) – The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation to create a more open, accountable and responsive government for all Americans. 

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the committee, and John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the panel, introduced The Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007 (“OPEN Government Act”) earlier this year.  The bill contains key reforms to update and strengthen the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

“Last year, this committee favorably reported an essentially identical bill but the full Senate did not consider this legislation before it adjourned last year.  This year, I hope that the Senate will do its part to reinvigorate FOIA by promptly passing this bill,” said Leahy, a longtime champion of open government laws.  “Open government is not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue.  It is an American issue.”

The OPEN Government bill is also cosponsored by Senators Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the committee’s ranking member; Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.); John Kerry (D-Mass.); Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.); Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.).

The OPEN Government Act would:

• Restore meaningful deadlines for agency action under FOIA;
• Impose real consequences on federal agencies for missing statutory deadlines;
• Clarify that FOIA applies to agency records held by outside private contractors;
• Establish a FOIA hotline service for all federal agencies; and
• Create a FOIA Ombudsman as an alternative to costly litigation.

The OPEN Government Act was first introduced in 2005 by Senators Leahy and Cornyn as part of the first ever National Sunshine week.  This bill, if enacted into law, would be the first update to FOIA since the 1990s.  The House of Representatives passed a similar bipartisan FOIA reform bill, the Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 2007, H.R. 1309, in March.

Below is Sen. Leahy’s statement from the business meeting earlier today.  

Statement Of Sen. Patrick Leahy,
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
On Consideration Of The Leahy-Cornyn OPEN Government Act
April 12, 2007

I am pleased that the Committee will consider the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act” (the “OPEN Government Act”), S. 849, today.  This bipartisan bill contains commonsense reforms to update and strengthen the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) for all Americans.   

I thank Senator Cornyn for his strong leadership as the chief cosponsor of this bill.  I also thank the Committee’s Ranking Member, Senator Specter, and Senator Feingold for cosponsoring this legislation.

Last year, this Committee favorably reported an essentially identical bill.  Sadly, the full Senate did not consider this legislation before it adjourned last year.  But, I hope that the Senate will do its part to reinvigorate FOIA this year, by promptly passing this bill.

During the Committee’s hearing on this legislation, we learned that the Freedom of Information Act remains an indispensable tool in shedding light on bad policies and government abuses.  But, today, FOIA also faces challenges like never before. 

According to a report by the National Security Archive, an independent non-governmental research institute, the oldest outstanding FOIA requests date back to 1989 -- before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that the FBI recently said that it will need six years – until 2013 -- to respond to a FOIA request seeking information about the Bureau’s Information Data Warehouse database. 

And, more than a year after the President’s directive to government agencies to improve their FOIA services, Americans who seek information under FOIA remain less likely to obtain it than during any other time in FOIA’s 40-year history

The OPEN Government Act takes several important steps to reverse this trend and to restore openness to our government.  Among other things, our bill:

• Restores meaningful deadlines for agency action under FOIA;
• Imposes real consequences on federal agencies for missing statutory deadlines;
• Clarifies that FOIA applies to agency records held by outside private contractors;
• Establishes a FOIA hotline service for all federal agencies; and
• Creates a FOIA Ombudsman as an alternative to costly litigation.

Senator Cornyn and I drafted this legislation after a long and thoughtful process of consultation with individuals and organizations that rely on FOIA to obtain information.

This legislation is endorsed by more than 25 different organizations representing all facets of the political spectrum, including the news media, librarians, and public interest groups.  I submit letters of support for this bill that I recently received from the Sunshine in Government Initiative, the League of Women Voters and the American Library Association for the record.

Senator Cornyn and I know that open government is not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue.  It is an American issue.  In that spirit, I urge all Members of the Committee to join us in supporting this important open government legislation.

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