Secrecy

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing today to discuss reforming the state secrets privilege, by focusing on protecting national security while preserving accountability. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), a member of the committee, introduced legislation (S. 2533) last month to narrow the scope of the privilege.

Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 15 to investigate allegedly contradictory statements made by White House officials about missing e-mail records.

In a statement released Thursday evening, Waxman said:

The University of Virginia has won the support of two state lawmakers to introduce legislation that would allow the school to keep private the names of donors who ask for anonymity when making gifts.

If enacted, the bill would grant the school an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act to withhold an indeterminate amount of information about their donors.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R) said Tuesday that he intends to sponsor legislation to make government spending information more accessible to the public.

Cornyn's proposal calls for expanding the federal government's spending Web site, which allows visitors to search federal contracts and grants. According to the Associated Press, a pilot program would give Americans the option of searching for such expenditures as government staff salaries and travel costs.

The Washington Post has a great rundown in Sunday's paper about the extensive efforts at secrecy pushed by the White House over the past seven years and the resulting backlash this near-total information blackout has caused.