Letters

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08/16/2011

Working to Make DoD More Trustworthy

Back in June, we wrote about "Why We Shouldn't Trust DOD to Tell Us What We Need to Know" and our work with Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). Since then, we have had some positive developments in the Senate. We sent a letter urging Senators to support an amendment by Senator Leahy.

08/15/2011

Groups Urge Leadership to Restore Faster FOIA Provisions to Debt Bill

On July 28, a dozen organizations wrote to House and Senate leadership urging them to restore the bipartisan Faster FOIA provisions in S. 627, now known as the Budget Control Act of 2011.

07/28/2011

Partners Urge House to Vote NO on Amendment to DHS Spending Bill that Could Hobble FOIA

OpenTheGovernment.org joins with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) to urge Members of Congress to vote NO on a proposed amendment by Representative Amash (R-MI) that would hobble the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by prohibiting relevant employees from facilitating FOIA requests.

06/02/2011

Organizations Oppose Bill to Gut Financial Industry Whistleblower Programs

OpenTheGovernment.org joins the Project on Government Oversight - POGO and several of our coalition partners in opposing a proposed bill by Representative Michael Grimm (R-NY) that would gut the new whistleblower award programs at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) enacted in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

05/24/2011

Groups Support Congressionally Mandated Reports Act

Almost thirty organizations recently joined OpenTheGovernment.org in endorsing the Congressionally Mandated Reports Act, a bill soon to be introduced by Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL) to make the thousands of reports Congress requires agencies to prepare accessible to the public.

05/10/2011

Open Gov Community Asks Administration to Coordinate Agency Requests to Limit Access to Information

On Thursday, March 31, a group of advocates for open and accountable government sent a letter to the Robert F. Bauer, Counsel to the President, requesting the Administration set up a process to review and coordinate agency proposals intended to protect information that was formerly withheld from the public under Exemption 2 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

03/31/2011

Organizations Ask Administration to Call on DOJ to Rethink Anti-Disclosure Position

In a letter organized by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), transparency and accountability organizations wrote to Bob Bauer, Counsel to the President, to express profound disappointment in the anti-disclosure position articulated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in front of the Supreme Court during oral argument of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) vs. AT&T.

01/31/2011

Groups: Focus on Problem at Hand Needed in Post-WikiLeaks Assessments of Classified Information Procedures

Washington, DC, January 28, 2011- A variety of government openness, national security, and civil liberties organizations released a letter to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Jack Lew, to urge him to conduct the President's called-for review of the implementation of safeguarding procedures for classified information in the wake of the WikiLeaks disclosures in a manner that is targeted to the problem at hand and does not sweep so broadly as to infringe on protected constitutional rights and privacy interests of employees. The groups were prompted to write by troubling questions in a questionnaire OMB circulated as a guide to agencies in preparing an initial assessment of their classified information procedures.

01/28/2011

Groups Urge Focus on Problem at Hand in Post-WikiLeaks Information Security Assessments

[1.28.11]A broad range of openness, national security, and civil rights organizations sent a letter urging OMB Director Jacob Lew to to conduct the President's called-for review of the implementation of safeguarding procedures for classified information in the wake of the WikiLeaks disclosures in a manner that is targeted to the problem at hand and does not sweep so broadly as to infringe on protected constitutional rights and privacy interests of employees.

01/28/2011

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