Open government may recieve boost

3/18/07

With the annual Sunshine Week wrapped up, it’s worth noting the continuing efforts on the federal level to keep information that is open to the public available and easy to acquire. A bill approved by the U. S. House and now before the Senate would beef up requirements under the Freedom of Information Act and would help citizens looking for information better complete their search. It is worthy of support.
The legislation is designed to create a tracking system and a hotline for people requesting information; create an ombudsman position, a person whose job it would be to help requesters find their way through the process; and ensure that, when requesters are forced to sue to see lawfully available documents, the government will pay the applicant’s legal fees. These facets show an admirable dedication to open government on the part of its sponsors, and may reflect a changing attitude after the past six years of secrecy and guardedness on the federal level.
The bill has passed the House and now awaits debate by the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, led by Connecticut’s own Joseph I. Lieberman. The erstwhile Democrat would do well to move the bill quickly to the full Senate, where it would likely be approved by a sizable margin.
The bill stresses accessibility, accountability and openness in the federal government. Now, more than any time since Watergate, our country is in desperate need of these qualities. Government secrecy has become the default position, with everything from presidential records to corporate consulting at the White House hidden from public view. It is only by reopening the vault of confidentiality — with all the necessary caveats for national security, but without a claim of national security trumping everything without evidence — that the public will regain trust in government.
Open government is important, of course, for more than one week a year. By supporting bills like this one, and reversing a trend toward classifying and revealing sensitive documents according to political convenience, the public will be served and its leaders held to account. It is honesty, not fear, that is most important in times of peril.