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Sens. Cornyn, Leahy Introduce OPEN Government Act of 2005

Published: February 16, 2005
Last Updated: February 16, 2005

Sens. Cornyn, Leahy Introduce OPEN Government Act of 2005

Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) have introduced the OPEN Government Act of 2005, which is designed to strengthen laws governing access to government information, particularly the Freedom of Information Act.

In addition to shoring up traditional FOIA accessibility, the act takes into consideration new technologies by calling for a hotline to track requests and Internet tracking, as well as granting privileged FOIA fees for bloggers and writers for Internet outlets.

The OPEN Government Act of 2005 is supported by a number of media groups including, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government, The National Conference of Editorial Writers, the National Newspaper Association, the Newspaper Association of America, the Radio-Television News Directors Association and The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Click here for a list of organizations supporting the bill.

Click here for the full text of the bill.

A section-by-section analysis of the legislation from Sen. Cornyn is available online by clicking here.

A general analysis of the OPEN Government Act is online here.

Sen. Cornyn's remarks on the Senate floor introducing the act are posted on his Web site.

Sen. Leahy's comments can be read online at his Web site.