Anonymous Senator Blocks FOIA Reform Bill - Pukes Hate Open Government

[UpInArms]

http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2007/s052407.html





Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am deeply disappointed that the Senate
may not consider the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National
Government Act,'' the OPEN Government Act, S. 849, before it adjourns
for the Memorial Day recess. The Judiciary Committee favorably reported
this bipartisan bill. We have filed a committee report on this
important legislation. Regrettably, an anonymous Republican hold is
stalling this important Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, legislation,
needlessly delaying long-overdue reforms to strengthen FOIA and to
protect the public's right to know.

It is both unfortunate and ironic that this bipartisan bill, which
promotes sunshine and openness in our government, is being hindered by
a secret and anonymous hold. This is a good government bill that
Democrats and Republicans alike, can and should work together to enact.

I hope that the Senator placing the secret hold on this bill will come
forward, so that we can resolve any legitimate concerns, and the full
Senate can promptly act on this legislation.

The OPEN Government Act is cosponsored by 10 Senators from both sides
of the aisle. This bill is also endorsed by more than 100 business,
public interest, and news organizations from across the political and
ideological spectrum, including, the American Library Association,
Conservation Congress, the Liberty Coalition, OpenTheGovernment.org,
the Sunshine in Government Initiative, the Republican Liberty Caucus
and Public Citizen.

I thank all of the cosponsors of this bill and commend Senator Cornyn
as our lead Republican sponsor. I also thank the many open government
organizations that are working tirelessly to encourage the Congress to
enact this bill this year. This measure is cleared for passage on the
Democratic side. It should be passed without further delay.

The OPEN Government Act promotes and enhances public disclosure of
government information under FOIA, by helping Americans to obtain
timely responses to their FOIA requests and improving transparency in
the Federal Government's FOIA process. During the recent hearing that
the Judiciary Committee held on this legislation, we learned that,
although FOIA remains an indispensable tool in shedding light on bad
policies and government abuses, this open government law is being
hampered by excessive delays and lax FOIA compliance. Today, Americans
who seek information under FOIA remain less likely to obtain it than
during any other time in FOIA's 40-year history. This bill would help
to reverse this trend and to restore the public's trust in their
government.

Senator Cornyn and I both know that open government is not a
Democratic issue or a Republican issue. It is an American issue. It is
in this spirit that I urge the removal of the anonymous hold placed on
this bill. I also urge all Members of the Senate to join me in
supporting this important open government legislation.

...much more at link...

:grr:

[Ian David]

1. I predect it will be Stevens from Alaska who did this. n/t

[AndyA]

2. He's done it before, so we know he knows how the process works.

F'in Republicans.

We should spray for them so they don't continue to grow.

[Ian David]

3. The bill is stuck in a series of tubes! n/t

[AndyA]

8. Or lost on a bridge to nowhere... n/m

[mmonk]

4. We can't stop a secret senator from putting a secret hold

on a bill about secrecy.:crazy:
I need to lay down.

[UpInArms]

6. it made me dizzy

and seasick

and then, really really really angry

:nuke:

[Tesha]

12. Remind me again how many votes it takes to change the rules of the Senate?

And how were Republicans going to do that (re: the "Nuclear
Option") when they ran the joint?

Tesha

[sam sarrha]

5. ReThugs are so chicken shit.... talk tough when they are lying.. fraidy cats of the truth

[old guy]

7. Could this secret hold crap by one member have been used

on the funding bill? If so why wasn't it?

[EST]

9. Hey, Old guy-what a wonderful idea!

The damn war monger bill could be on secret hold until such time as the chicken-shit comes forward and releases his secret hold on the FOIA bill.

[barbtries]

10. what is a "secret hold"

and how does it (can it?!) work?

[UpInArms]

11. A secret hold is a parliamentary procedure

within the Standing Rules of the Senate within the United States Senate that allows one or more Senators to anonymously prevent a motion from reaching a vote on the Senate floor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_hold

Sections 2 and 3 of Rule VII (Morning Business) of the Standing Rules of the Senate outline the procedure for bringing motions to the floor of the Senate. Under these rules, "no motion to proceed to the consideration of any bill...shall be entertained...unless by unanimous consent". In practice, this means that a Senator may privately provide notice to their party leadership of their intent to object to a motion. At that point, the motion cannot proceed because unanimous consent has not been reached, even though the Senator has not publicly announced their intent to object. This allows a Senator to remain anonymous while preventing the motion to go forward.

The original intent of these sections were to protect a Senator's right to be consulted on legislation that affected the Senator's state or that they had a great interest in. The ability to place a hold would allow that Senator an opportunity to study the legislation and to reflect on what it means before moving forward with further debate and voting.<1>


Controversy

In August 2006, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 was put on secret hold. This bill, intended to encourage transparency within government, was considered by political pundits to be an especially ironic target of a secret hold and much attention was drawn to the bill and to the procedure itself.<2><3> Bloggers and political activists sought to identify the Senator or Senators responsible by process of elimination, by having constituents contact each Senator and requesting a specific on-the-record denial of placing the secret hold. Within 24 hours, 96 Senators had explicitly denied that they had placed the secret hold, leaving only 4 Senators still suspected and under growing public scrutiny as a result.<4> On August 30, a spokesperson for Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska announced that Stevens had placed a hold on the bill.<5> On August 31, 2006, Sen. Byrd also admitted placing a hold on the bill.<6> Ultimately, the bill passed the Senate unanimously.

In April 2007, the practice received media attention again when an anonymous senator placed a hold on the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act, another bill intended to increase transparency in government.<7> The Sunlight Foundation government watchdog group attempted to "ferret out" the senator who placed the hold.<8>

...more...

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. Republicans are so afraid of open government.

[mmonk]

14. A natural reaction of people. Everybody is afraid of getting

caught doing something wrong.