[国会纪录：2008年3月12日（参议院）] [Page S2001]关于引入的裁判和联合决议的陈述（为他自己和Cornyn先生）：S. 2746.一项修订第552（b）条的条例草案（3）标题5，美国代码（通常称为信息法案），以规定对该法案的披露要求的法定豁免应具体引用授权此类豁免的行动，以确保开放和通过提供相关的立法提案，在明确陈述此类所需的引用以及其他目的的情况下，提出审议过程;向司法委员会委员会。雷希先生。主席先生，今天，我们接近2008年阳光周的全国庆祝活动，我很高兴加入参议员Cornyn，介绍2008年的开放性FOIA法案，简明而直接的法案，以进一步加强信息法案，FOIA的自由。本条例草案是参议员Cornyn和我承担重振和加强Foia的重要工作的下一步，并遵循leahy-cornyn开放政府法案的举行的颁布，这是对Foia的第一次重大改革的法律十多年来。开放的FOIA法案只是要求，当国会规定对新立法中的法定豁免时，国会必须说明其在该法案中明确而明确地进行的意图。这种致命的账单反映了两党在最后一代大会第1181议会中一致通过参议院的两党立法。 I hope that the Senate will once again promptly and unanimously pass this good-government bill. While no one can fairly question the need to keep certain government information secret to ensure the public good, excessive government secrecy is a constant temptation and the enemy of a vibrant democracy. For more than 4 decades, FOIA has served as perhaps the most important Federal law to ensure the public's right to know and to balance the government's power with the need for government accountability. FOIA contains a number of exemptions to its disclosure requirements for national security, law enforcement, confidential business information, personal privacy and other circumstances. The FOIA exemption commonly known as the ``(b)(3) exemption,'' requires that Government records that are specifically exempted from FOIA by statute may be withheld from the public. Of course, neither I nor Senator Cornyn would quibble with the notion that some Government information is appropriately kept from public view. But in recent years we have witnessed an alarming number of FOIA (b)(3) exemptions being offered in legislation--often in very ambiguous terms--to the detriment of the American people's right to know. The bedrock principles of open government lead me to believe that (b)(3) statutory exemptions should be clear and unambiguous, and vigorously debated before they are enacted into law. Of course, sometimes this does happen. But more and more often, legislative exemptions to FOIA are buried within a few lines of very complex and lengthy bills, which are never debated openly and publicly before becoming law. The consequence of this troubling practice is the erosion of the public's right to know and the shirking of Congress' duty to fully consider these exemptions. Senator Cornyn and I both believe that Congress must be diligent in reviewing any new exemptions to FOIA, to prevent possible abuses and a situation where the exceptions to disclosure under FOIA swallow this important disclosure rule. The OPEN FOIA Act will ensure openness and clarity about how we treat one of our most important open Government laws. Our bill will also shine more light into the process of creating legislative exemptions to FOIA--which is the best antidote to exemption creep. Democratic and Republican Senators alike have rightly supported and voted for this bill in the past. As I have said many times before, open Government is not a Democratic issue, nor a Republican issue. It is an American value and a virtue that all Americans can embrace. I urge all Members to support this bipartisan good-government bill to strengthen the public's right to know. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: S. 2746 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``OPEN FOIA Act of 2008''. SEC. 2. SPECIFIC CITATIONS IN STATUTORY EXEMPTIONS. Section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following: ``(3) specifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other than section 552b of this title), if that statute-- ``(A)(i) requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue; or ``(ii) establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld; and ``(B) if enacted after the date of enactment of the OPEN FOIA Act of 2008, specifically cites to this paragraph.''. ______