[国会纪录：2009年3月17日（参议院）]关于莱姆先生（为自己和Cornyn先生）引入的账单和联合决议的陈述：612.一个修订第552条的条例草案（B）（3）标题5，美国守则（通常称为信息法案），以规定该法案的披露要求的规定，应具体引用该法案授权此类豁免，以确保通过提供有关的立法提案，在国会内开放和审议流程，以明确陈述此类所需的引用以及其他目的;向司法委员会委员会。雷希先生。主席先生，本周，我们的国家庆祝阳光周 - 一个识别和促进政府开放的时机。在这一年的这个重要时代，我很高兴与参议员Cornyn联系，以重新引入开放的Foia法案 - 这是一项关于促进有关信息法案自由的法定豁免的更多开放性。这个Bipartisan账单在参议员Cornyn和几年前开始的工作中建立了工作，以便重振和加强FOIA。我们介绍，大会最终颁布了，开放政府法案 - 十多年来的第一次重大改革。我感谢参议员Cornyn对此重要问题的工作和领导。 I also thank President Obama--who was a cosponsor of the OPEN Government Act when he was in the Senate--for his deep commitment to FOIA. President Obama clearly demonstrated his commitment to open Government when he issued a new directive to strengthen FOIA during his first full day in office. The OPEN FOIA Act simply requires that when Congress provides for a statutory exemption to FOIA in new legislation, Congress must state its intention to do so explicitly and clearly. This commonsense bill mirrors bipartisan legislation that the Judiciary Committee favorably reported, and the Senate unanimously passed, during the 109th Congress, S. 1181. 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 four 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. The Freedom of Information Act 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 be withheld from the public. 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 public'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. Too often, legislative exemptions to FOIA are buried within a few lines of very complex and lengthy bills, and these new exemptions are never debated openly 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. The OPEN FOIA Act will help stop this practice and shine more light on the process of creating legislative exemptions to FOIA. That will be the best antidote to the ``exemption creep'' that we have witnessed in recent years. When he recently addressed a joint session of the Congress and the American people, President Obama said that ``I know that we haven't agreed on every issue thus far, and there are surely times in the future when we will part ways. But, I also know that every American who is sitting here tonight loves this country and wants it to succeed. That must be the starting point for every debate we have in the coming months, and where we return after those debates are done.'' Sunshine Week reminds all of us that open Government is not a Democratic issue, nor a Republican issue. It is an American issue and a virtue that all Americans can embrace. Democratic and Republican Senators alike have rightly supported and voted for this bill in the past. It is in this same bipartisan spirit that I urge all Members to support this bipartisan FOIA reform bill. 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 placed in the Record, as follows: S. 612 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 2009''. 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-- [[Page S3176]] ``(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 2009, specifically cites to this paragraph.''. ______