House passes 3 open government bills

[Joanne98]

House passes 3 open government bills
Lawmakers accuse White House of secrecy; legislation faces veto threats
By Jim Abrams
The Associated Press
Originally published March 14, 2007, 3:49 PM EDT

WASHINGTON // Open-government bills sped to House passage today as Democrats pushed to make the president and his executive branch more forthcoming about their actions. The White House struck back with veto threats.

Aided by substantial Republican support, the Democrats approved legislation to force government agencies to be more responsive to the millions of Freedom of Information Act requests for public documents they receive every year.

The House also easily passed bills to require donors to presidential libraries to identify themselves -- an issue as President Bush prepares for his own library -- and to reverse a 2001 Bush decision making it easier for presidents to keep their records from public scrutiny.

The White House, citing the president's constitutional prerogatives, warned that the presidential records bill would be vetoed if it reached his desk. The White House threatened to veto a separate bill, to better protect government whistle-blowers, that was being considered today.

The votes were 390-34 on the presidential library bill; 333-93 on the presidential records bill; and 308-117 on the FOIA legislation.

Those three bills and the whistle-blower bill are part of the media-led Sunshine Week. Democrats are using the annual event to highlight what they say is a disturbing level of secrecy in the Bush administration.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, meanwhile, heard testimony on a parallel FOIA bill. Introduced by Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, it would improve administration of the law and penalize agencies that fail to comply in a timely fashion.

Media representatives said seven agencies have gone more than a decade without responding to some requests for information under the law. They endorsed the bill's penalties, its provisions to allow people to track the progress of their requests and its plan to repay attorney fees in successful suits for records that were denied.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/politics/bal-bills0314,0,7670336.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines


:applause:

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Yipee!! Keep on going!

[babylonsister]

2. "presidential records bill would be vetoed" - I imagine he has tons

to hide, but vetoing this would sure make that apparent. Have I called him a doofus lately?

[Thor_MN]

4. That's not about hiding *'s F ups, it's St. Ronnie's and Poppie's

I've been irrate since 2001 when * executive ordered out of existence the laws passed after Watergate that ensure we get the papers that we paid for after a reasonable period. He is trying to hide the information that sheds light on the disasters of the Reagan and Bush 41 Presidencies.

[peacetalksforall]

3. Cornyn? Clap clap clap. I would have never predicted it. n/t