AG sees promising change toward open government
Pete YostAttorney General Eric Holder vowed Monday to pursue a government-wide strategy to open greater amounts of information to the public.
In the past year, "we've seen something truly promising: an obvious and encouraging change in our government's attitude toward information," Holder told Justice Department employees in a speech. "We must keep up this work."
President Barack Obama has given Holder the lead in pushing the federal bureaucracy to release more information.
Holder's comments came during the sixth Sunshine Week, an annual observance by journalism organizations to promote open government and freedom of information.
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, were introducing legislation to delve into the reasons agencies delay releasing material under the Freedom of Information Act. The bill would establish a bipartisan commission to examine the problem.
The Obama administration has taken some political risks and criticism for moves toward openness, including its disclosure of Bush administration legal opinions used to justify harsh interrogation that some consider torture.
From the other end of the political spectrum, the Obama administration ran into criticism from liberals when the president backed off a plan to release photographs of detainee abuse.
An independent study by a private group found a mixed record in an audit of how 90 agencies responded to Obama administration directives to open more records.
While the Obama administration has clearly stated a new policy direction for open government, it has not conquered the challenge of communicating and enforcing that message throughout the executive branch, concluded the study by the National Security Archive, which uses the Freedom of Information Act and lawsuits to pry out official records.
On Monday, Holder was joined at the Justice Department's Great Hall by information specialists from the Homeland Security, Defense and Treasury Departments as well as the U.S. Trade Representative's office and the Environmental Protection Agency. All said they have made substantial progress in opening up records, while agreeing more needs to be done.
"While we aren't where we need to be just yet, we're certainly on the right path," Holder told the audience in assessing the Justice Department's performance.
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On the Net:
National Security Archive: http://tinyurl.com/a8dwh
White House: http://tinyurl.com/b7qc6q
Sunshine Week: http://www.sunshineweek.org/