[Congressional Record: December 18, 2007 (Senate)]
[Page S15831-S15832]                        



            [Sen. Leahy on Passage of the OPEN Govt Act]

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased that the Congress will send 
the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act--the 
``OPEN Government Act--S. 2488, to the President for signature before 
the end of this year. With House passage of this bill today, and the 
Senate's passage of it last Friday, this historic, bipartisan, 
bicameral legislation becomes the first major reform to the Freedom of 
Information Act, FOIA, in more than a decade. The American people will 
have a new law honoring the public's right to know under the tree this 
holiday season.
  I commend House Government Reform and Oversight Committee Chairman 
Henry Waxman for moving quickly to enact this bill, and for his 
leadership of the successful effort to pass FOIA reform legislation in 
the House of Representatives. I thank him and his staff, including Anna 
Latin, Michelle Ash and Phil Schiliro, for all of their hard work on 
this legislation. I also commend Representative William ``Lacy'' Clay, 
Jr., for sponsoring this legislation in the House.
  I also thank the members of my staff who worked on this bill--Lydia 
Griggsby, Lauren Brackett, Erica Chabot, Bruce Cohen and Leila George-
Wheeler--for all of their hard work on this bill.
  I also commend the bill's chief Republican cosponsor in the Senate, 
Senator John Cornyn, for his commitment and dedication to passing FOIA 
reform legislation this year.
  I am also appreciative of the efforts of Senator Jon Kyl for 
cosponsoring this bill and helping us to reach a compromise on this 
legislation this year. I also thank the more than 115 business, news 
media and public interest organizations that have endorsed this 
legislation.
  As the first major reform to FOIA in more than a decade, the OPEN 
Government Act will help to reverse the troubling trends of excessive 
delays and lax FOIA compliance in our government and help to restore 
the public's trust in their government.
  This legislation will also improve transparency in the Federal 
Government's FOIA process by: restoring meaningful deadlines for agency 
action under FOIA; imposing real consequences on Federal agencies for 
missing FOIA's 20-day statutory deadline; clarifying that FOIA applies 
to government records held by outside private contractors; establishing 
a FOIA hotline service for all Federal agencies; and creating a FOIA 
Ombudsman to provide FOIA requestors and Federal agencies with a 
meaningful alternative to costly litigation.
  The OPEN Government Act will protect the public's right to know, by 
ensuring that anyone who gathers information to inform the public, 
including freelance journalists and bloggers, may seek a fee waiver 
when they request information under FOIA.
  The bill ensures that Federal agencies will not automatically exclude 
Internet blogs and other Web-based forms of media when deciding whether 
to waive FOIA fees. In addition, the bill also clarifies that the 
definition of news media, for purposes of FOIA fee waivers, includes 
free newspapers and individuals performing a media function who do not 
necessarily have a prior history of publication.
  The bill also restores meaningful deadlines for agency action, by 
ensuring that the 20-day statutory clock under FOIA starts when a 
request is received by the appropriate component of the agency and 
requiring that agency FOIA offices get FOIA requests to the appropriate 
agency component within 10 days of the receipt of such requests.
  The bill also clarifies that the Supreme Court's decision in 
Buckhannon Board and Care Home, Inc. v. West Virginia Dep't of Health 
and Human Resources, which eliminated the ``catalyst theory'' for 
attorneys' fees recovery under certain Federal civil rights laws, does 
not apply to FOIA cases.
  Furthermore, to address concerns about the growing costs of FOIA 
litigation, the bill also creates an Office of Government Information 
Services in the National Archives and creates an ombudsman to mediate 
agency-level FOIA disputes.
  In addition, the bill ensures that each Federal agency appoints a 
Chief FOIA Officer to monitor the agency's compliance with FOIA 
requests, and a FOIA Public Liaison who will be available to resolve 
FOIA related disputes. And, the bill creates a better tracking system 
for FOIA requests to assist members of the public and clarifies that 
FOIA applies to agency records that are held by outside private 
contractors, no matter where these records are located.
  Finally, this bill contains a number of key improvements championed 
by Chairman Waxman. The bill includes ``pay/go'' language that will 
ensure that attorneys' fees that are awarded in FOIA litigation are 
paid for with annually appropriated agency funds.
  The bill also eliminates a provision on citations to FOIA (b)(3) 
exemptions contained in the earlier Senate bill. In addition, the bill 
includes a new provision that requires Federal agencies to disclose the 
FOIA exemptions that they rely upon when redacting information from 
documents released under FOIA.
  And the bill adds FOIA duplication fees for non-commercial 
requestors, including the media, to the fee waiver penalty that will be 
imposed when an

[[Page S15832]]

agency fails to meet the 20-day statutory clock under FOIA.
  The enactment of FOIA reform legislation this year is an important 
milestone in the effort to restore openness and transparency to our 
government. By sending this meaningful FOIA reform bill to the 
President this year, the Congress also sends a powerful message to the 
American people that the era of excessive government secrecy has come 
to an end.
  While I am pleased that the reforms contained in the OPEN Government 
Act will ensure that FOIA is reinvigorated for future generations, my 
work to strengthen FOIA will not end with the enactment of this 
legislation.
  There is much more work to be done to ensure that we have a 
government that is open and accountable to all Americans. And I will 
continue to work with Senator Cornyn, Chairman Waxman and others to 
further strengthen this vital open government law.
  I urge the President to promptly sign this open government 
legislation into law at the earliest opportunity.
  So again, I am pleased today that the Congress is going to send the 
Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act--also 
known as the OPEN Government Act--and for those who follow this issue, 
FOIA. They are going to send it to the President before the end of this 
year. With passage of this bill today in the House and the Senate's 
passage of it last Friday, this historic, bipartisan, bicameral 
legislation becomes the first major reform of the Freedom of 
Information Act in more than a decade. The American people are going to 
have a new law honoring the public's right to know, and they will have 
it during this holiday season.
  I commend the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee 
chairman, Henry Waxman, for moving quickly to enact this bill and for 
his leadership. I wish to thank him and his staff, including Anna 
Latin, Michelle Ash, and Phil Schiliro, for all of their hard work on 
the legislation.
  I commend also the chief Republican cosponsors in the Senate, Senator 
John Cornyn and Senator Jon Kyl, for joining me in this effort.
  The reason this legislation is so important is that throughout my 
whole career in the Senate, I have always supported the idea of the 
Freedom of Information Act. We all know no matter who is in the 
administration, whether it is a Democratic or a Republican 
administration, that when they do things they want us to know about, 
the press releases flow. When they make a mistake--and all 
administrations do--they would just as soon we not know about it, 
whether money has been wasted or whether a policy has not been 
followed. The Freedom of Information Act allows the American public--
and after all, the Government serves them--to find out, through 
individual private citizens, and through the press, what is happening 
in their government. It has saved billions of dollars over the years 
because of what they found out, but more importantly, it has kept our 
Government honest. I wrote the Electronic Freedom of Information Act 
which allowed us to use the Internet and electronic files for that 
purpose.
  But this month, the Open Government Act--the first major reform in 
more than a decade--is going to help reverse the troubling trends of 
excessive delays, the lax compliance with FOIA and will help restore 
public trust in our Government. It will improve transparency and 
restore meaningful deadlines for agency action under FOIA. It will also 
impose real consequences on Federal agencies who miss the 20-day 
statutory deadline. It will clarify that FOIA applies to Government 
records that are held by outside private contractors. The Open 
Government Act will establish a FOIA hotline service for all Federal 
agencies, and create a FOIA Ombudsman, which will provide a meaningful 
alternative to costly litigation.
  Chairman Waxman wanted pay-go language to ensure that attorney's fees 
that are awarded in FOIA litigation are paid for with annually 
appropriated agency funds, and that has been included in this bill.
  This is an important milestone. The Open Government Act contains 
reforms that ensure FOIA is reinvigorated for future generations. I 
don't intend to give up after this effort, of course. We will continue 
to work with our oversight. We will continue to pursue efforts on FOIA. 
But what we have said is that no matter who is the next President, they 
will have to run a Government that is more open than it has been in the 
past, and all 300 million Americans will have a better chance to know 
what happens in their Government.
  This is a great step forward for the access of a free press, and for 
an honest and open Government in this country.
  Mr. President, I yield such time as the Senator from Washington State 
may need of the time I have. I yield 10 minutes to the Senator from 
Washington State.

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