Senators Seek More Government Information on the Internet

(August 8, 1999) Sen. John McCain and Sen. Patrick Leahy called for the Congress, courts, and federal agencies to put more government information online at a press conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, August 5. At the same event the Center for Democracy and Technology and OMB Watch announced a list of the "Ten Most Wanted Government Documents."

"The Supreme Court of Mongolia has an official web site, but the U. S. Supreme Court does not. That is unacceptable," said Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) at the event. "And I think that the American taxpayers who have footed the bill for these documents have the right to see them."

Sen. McCain

"In February, Senator Leahy and I introduced the Congressional Openness Act. The bill is cosponsored by a number of Senators. Representatives Shays and Price have introduced similar legislation in the House. We make CRS Congress Research Service products,  lobby reports, and Senate gift disclosure reports available to the public over the Internet."

"Constituents must currently have their Congressmen send them CRS products through the mail," said Sen. McCain.

Sen. McCain is the sponsor of S 393 IS, the Congressional Openness Act. Sen. Leahy is a lead cosponsor. The bill was introduced on February 9, and referred to Senate Rules Committee. The bill has nine cosponsors: Pat Leahy (D-VT), Trent Lott (R-MS), Spencer Abraham (R-MI), Charles Robb (D-VA), Mike Enzi (R-WY), John Ashcroft (R-MO), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Russ Feingold (D-WI), and Jeff Sessions (R-AL).

Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT) is the sponsor of HR 654 IH, the Congressional Research Accessibility Act, which covers only CRS materials.

Sen. Leahy

Sen. Leahy spoke immediately after Sen. McCain. "I think you and I -- you suggested here going to the Chief Justice and members of the U.S. Supreme Court -- cite stare decisis. We will tell them here the stare decisis here is the Supreme Court of Mongolia. And they ought to do the same," said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

"All three branches of the federal government should harness the power of the information age," said Sen. Leahy. "Our Act, S 393, the McCain-Leahy Congressional Openness Act puts the most wanted government documents, CRS reports, on the Internet."

"Taxpayers spent $65 Million per year on CRS," he added.

The Center for Democracy and Technology was represented at the event by Jerry Berman and Ari Schwartz. Richard Blum spoke for OMB Watch. They used the event to announce and explain their list of the Ten Most Wanted Government Documents. At the top of the list is CRS reports.

The CDT compiled the list by soliciting recommendations over the Internet.

Ari Schwartz explained. "We sent a call out to reporters, researchers, librarians, and citizens at large, and asked them, please send us what documents should be on line that are not on line now -- things that you know exist on paper that are unclassified. We got back 200 e-mails. Those 200 e-mails listed 350 documents, or made 350 types of requests."

"We found that many other countries have Supreme Court web sites. We used Mongolia as an extreme example. But also, for example, the European Court of Justice is publishes their opinions in eleven different languages. So, obviously, some persons have made the decision that it is worthwhile to put this information on line. We need to look into that more. Hopefully, the Supreme Court will move forward on that," said Schwartz.

During the question and answer session, Sen. Leahy was asked about federal agencies' failure to comply with the Electronic Freedom of Information Act. "I am going to start raising it more on the Appropriations hearings," responded Sen. Leahy. "I have a seat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. I serve on several of its subcommittees. It is amazing how it focuses an agencies' head when you ask a question at the same hearing where they are talking about how much they are getting for the coming year."

Sen. Leahy was also asked why S 393 has not passed yet. "Well, we have a hard time getting a lot of legislation -- this week -- this report is going to help. I think whenever there is a report it helps us. I think that there is going to be a flurry of legislative activity in September and October. I am hoping that we can show enough bipartisan support for this that it won't even be an issue."

"This is more than just a house keeping bill. It is a good government bill. It is going to help a lot of people," concluded Sen. Leahy.