Sens. Cornyn, Leahy Press the Case for Government Openness

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Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, and John Cornyn, R-TX, the sponsors of legislation to reform the Freedom of Information Act, wrote articles for Quill Magazine on the 40th anniversary of the act. Leahy writes that public access to government information is in an ebb tide, “drawn down by a secrecy-obsessed administration that too often seems to treat information as the sovereign property.” Cornyn maintains that “the default position of our government must be one of openness” and that the burden of proof should be on the government to demonstrate why a record should be withheld from the public. (9/5/06)