[国会记录：2008年2月14日（参议院）] [Page S1050-S1051]政府信息服务办公室雷利先生。主席先生，在去年年底颁布了Bipartisan信息法案，FOIA，改革立法，国会要求并赢得了监测政府活动的更多开放性和责任。但是，令人遗憾的是，在这一历史性的公开政府立法签署法律后几个星期，布什政府有关如何执行这一法律的令人不安的迹象。上周，总统埋葬了政府2009财政年度预算提案的一项规定，这些预算提案将使在独立的国家档案馆和记录管理下的“开放政府法”下创建的政府信息服务办公室的职能。司法部。总统的提议不仅与国会的快速意图相反，但与本立法的宗旨相反 - 确保及时公平地解决美国的FOIA要求。政府信息服务办公室成立，以及其他事项，联邦机构和FOIA请求者之间的FOIA争端，审查和评估代理商的争议，审查机构遵守和众议院新建立的FOIA监察员。当参议员Cornyn和我起草公开的政府法案时，我们故意将这个关键的办事处放在国家档案馆，使OGIS将没有联邦机构的影响，这些机构争夺FOIA争端 - 司法部。我们还将OGIS放在非政治性国家档案中，以提高这项办公室的独立性，以便所有美国人都能相信他们的FOIA要求将公开和公平地解决。鉴于国会明确的意图将OGIS建立为国家档案馆的独立办事处，总统的预算提案不应该 - 而且不能 - 去淘汰。 What's more, given the Justice Department's own abysmal record on FOIA compliance--a recent Bureau of National Affairs Daily Report for Executives article found that the Justice Department's Office of Information Policy is burdened by increasing FOIA backlogs--it is simply unfathomable that this agency would be entrusted with overseeing the processing of American's FOIA requests. When the Congress unanimously passed the OPEN Government Act just a couple months ago, Democrats and Republicans alike joined together in promising the American people a more open and transparent government. I intend to work to ensure that that this was not an empty promise, but one that will be honored and fulfilled. [[Page S1051]] I call on all Members of Congress, on both sides of the aisle and in both Chambers, to join with me to ensure that the Office of Government Information Services is promptly established and fully funded within the National Archives. The American people have waited for more than a decade for this office and for the other historic FOIA reforms contained in the OPEN Government Act. They should not be forced to wait any longer. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a copy of a letter from a coalition of more than 40 different open government organizations that strongly oppose moving the Office of Government Information Services to the Department of Justice be printed in the Record. Congress must work to beat back the administration's ill-advised attempts to undermine the intent of Congress in a bill that this President signed into law. In the coming weeks and months, I will be working with other advocates of FOIA in the Senate to do just that. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: February 6, 2008. Hon. Robert C. Byrd, Chairman Hon. Thad Cochran, Ranking Member, Committee on Appropriations, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Byrd and Ranking Member Cochran: We are writing to express our concern that the Bush Administration's proposed FY 2009 budget attempts to repeal a section of law and shift funding for a new Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to the Department of Justice (DOJ). President Bush signed the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act (OPEN Government Act), which creates OGIS at NARA, a mere five weeks ago. We urge you to ensure the President's budget reflects congressional intent and the explicit mandate of the statute as the budgetary process unfolds. Currently, the president's budget proposes: ``The Department of Justice shall carry out the responsibilities of the office established in 5 U.S.C. 552(h), from amounts made available in the Department of Justice appropriation for General Administration Salaries and Expenses. In addition, subsection (h) of section 552 of title 5, United States Code, is hereby repealed, and subsections (i) through (I) are redesignated (h) through (k). (Commerce, Justice, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008.)'' (Section 519 of Title V of the Department of Commerce; p. 239 of the Appendix) The OPEN Government Act (P.L. 110-175) established OGIS specifically at NARA. It did so as a result of congressional findings that interests promoted by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), as well as American traditions and ideals regarding the value of an informed citizenry and the legitimacy of representative government, were being insufficiently served by the existing system of agency practices and implementation, in which DOJ has been the lead agency for 30 years. Additionally, since it is the responsibility of the Department to defend its government- agency clients in litigation brought by requestors, there is a built-in conflict of interest in vesting DOJ with responsibilities to resolve FOIA disputes informally and to hold agencies accountable for FOIA implementation. Congress specifically directed the creation of an ombudsman office apart from the Department of Justice for mediation of contested requests, thus reducing the amount, and concomitant costs, of litigation--burdens whose reduction would be beneficial to all. The new office, established with strong bipartisan support in both Houses of Congress, also has the critical mandate to evaluate agency implementation of FOIA with a disinterested eye. We strongly oppose this effort to use the budget process to rewrite the law, undermining congressional intent and flouting a specific statutory mandate. We urge you to appropriate necessary funds to establish the Office of Government Information Services in the National Archives and Records Administration, as your legislation wisely requires, and, to reinforce the intent of the OPEN Government Act, reject Section 519 of the proposed budget. Sincerely, Access Reports, Inc.; American Association of Law Libraries; American Association of Publishers; American Civil Liberties Union; American Library Association; American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; Association of Research Libraries; Bill of Rights Defense Committee; Californians Aware; Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington; Citizens for Sunshine; Coalition on Political Assassinations; DownsizeDC.org, Inc.; Electronic Frontier Foundation; Essential Information; Feminists for Free Expression; Government Accountability Project; Indiana Coalition for Open Government; The James Madison Project; Justice Through Music; League of Women Voters of the U.S.; Liberty Coalition; Maine Association of Broadcasters; Minnesota Coalition on Government Information; National Coalition Against Censorship; National Freedom of Information Coalition; The National Security Archives; 9/11 Research Group; OMB Watch; Open Society Policy Center; OpenTheGovernment.org; PEN American Center; Project On Government Oversight; Public Citizen; Readthebill.org Foundation; The Rutherford Institute; Society of Professional Journalists; Society of Professional Journalists Montana Professional Chapter; Special Libraries Association; Sunlight Foundation; United States Bill of Rights Foundation; Velvet Revolution; Washington Coalition for Open Government. ____________________