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-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Wendy Clark Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2003 10:46 AM To: Syscon-Tx (E-mail) Subject: FW: [ALA-WO:802] SENATE INTRODUCES RESTORE FOIA FYI -----Original Message----- From: ALAWASH E-MAIL [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2003 10:11 AM To: ALA Washington Office Newsline Subject: [ALA-WO:802] SENATE INTRODUCES RESTORE FOIA ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 12, Number 22 March 13, 2003 In This Issue: Senators Introduce the Restore Freedom of Information Act (Restore FOIA) Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Carl Levin (D-Mich.), James Jeffords (I-Vt.), Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), and Robert Byrd (D-W.V.) Wednesday introduced the S. 609, "Restore Freedom of Information Act (Restore FOIA)," four days before Freedom of Information Day. The Restore FOIA bill would replace the broad FOIA exemption for "critical infrastructure information" included in the charter for the new Department of Homeland Security, enacted last November. The Restore FOIA bill would protect Americans' "right to know" while simultaneously contributing to the security of the nation's critical infrastructure. The Leahy-Levin-Jeffords-Lieberman-Byrd bill embodies the compromise that Leahy, Levin and others reached with the White House during the Senate's earlier work on the homeland security bill. Last November, this bipartisan compromise was stripped out of the underlying bill and House language was enacted. The new Restore FOIA bill would: * Limit the FOIA exemption to relevant "records" submitted by private entities, so that only those records that actually pertain to critical infrastructure safety are protected. "Records" is the standard category referred to in FOIA. This corrects the free pass given to industry by the Homeland Security Act for any information labeled "critical infrastructure." * Not limit the use of such information by the government, except to prohibit disclosure where such information is appropriately exempted under FOIA. * Protect the actions of legitimate whistleblowers, rather than criminalizing their acts. * Not forbid use of such information in civil court cases to hold companies accountable for wrongdoing or to protect the public. * Respect, rather than preempt, state and local FOIA laws. For more information, go to http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200303/031203.html <http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200303/031203.html> ACTION: The bill has been referred to the Judiciary Committee. The Senators on each of those committees are listed below. Please contact your senator and urge her/him to support this legislation. Contact information is available at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm <http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm> or 202-224-3121. SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE Orrin G. Hatch Patrick J. Leahy CHAIRMAN, UTAH RANKING DEMOCRATIC MEMBER,VERMONT Charles E. Grassley Edward M. Kennedy IOWA MASSACHUSETTS Arlen Specter Joseph R. Biden, Jr PENNSYLVANIA DELAWARE Jon Kyl Herbert Kohl ARIZONA WISCONSIN Mike DeWine Dianne Feinstein OHIO CALIFORNIA Jeff Sessions Russell D. Feingold ALABAMA WISCONSIN Lindsey Graham Charles E. Schumer SOUTH CAROLINA NEW YORK Larry Craig Richard J. Durbin IDAHO ILLINOIS Saxby Chambliss John Edwards GEORGIA NORTH CAROLINA John Cornyn TEXAS ****** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. To subscribe to ALAWON, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon <http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon> . To unsubscribe to ALAWON, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> . ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon <http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon> . ALA Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 403, Washington, D.C. 20004-1701; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478 toll-free; fax: 202.628.8419; e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED];> Web site: http://www.ala.org/washoff <http://www.ala.org/washoff> . Executive Director: Emily Sheketoff. Office of Government Relations: Lynne Bradley, Director; Camille Bowman, Mary Costabile, Don Essex, Patrice McDermott and Miriam Nisbet. Office for Information Technology Policy: Rick Weingarten, Director; Jennifer Hendrix, Carrie Russell, Claudette Tennant. ALAWON Editor: Bernadette Murphy. --------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Include in body: unsubscribe ctls-l For information on CTLS-L please visit: http://www.ctls.net/document/ctls-l.htm
