Access

[Steve]

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(Los Angeles Times editorial)---In 1994, then House Speaker Newt
Gingrich promised to post all congressional proceedings on the
Internet as a way of launching what he called a "civilizational
upheaval" in which "regular people in little towns"--not well-moneyed
lobbyists--would manage affairs in Washington. In 1996, the
representative from Georgia, swayed by the futurism of writer Alvin
Toffler, helped pass the Electronic Freedom of Information Act, which
required federal agencies to grant Americans prompt access to any
information in their databases that could help "ensure an informed
citizenry." 

Three years later, Gingrich's revolution, far from online, is
nowhere in sight. Rather than complying with the 1996 law, most parts
of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the U.S.
government stand in blatant violation of it. 

While the Supreme Court of Mongolia has its own official Web site, 
the U.S. Supreme Court doesn't, forcing Americans to search through 
unofficial Web sites in hope of finding its briefs and opinions. 
While the Congressional Research Service makes its reports on vital 
issues like HMO reform instantly available online to legislators, 
taxpayers, who fund those studies, can get them only through the mail 
from their members of Congress. 

If you are a soldier who believes he was made ill by the military's
anthrax vaccine, for example, you might want to know what was said
in Tuesday's hearing of the House Committee on Government Reform, in
which Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) and leading scientists
discussed how the government should weigh a vaccine's risks against
its benefits. The full text of the hearing was available Tuesday to
anyone who could afford a subscription to a private online data
service. 

Those hoping to access such supposedly public information on the
Web, however, were out of luck. The House Government Reform
Committee's Web site lists transcripts from only a hodgepodge of
committee hearings. The most recent transcript available at that site
is from June. 

Today, Sens. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) plan
to hold a press conference in which they will release a study by two
Washington public-interest groups on how federal agencies have
failed to comply with the 1996 law. McCain and Leahy, along with
David E. Price (D-N.C.) and Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) in the House,
have introduced similar bills to require Congress to put
Congressional Research Service documents online within 30 days. The
measures currently are in the House and Senate rules committees. 

Fundamental change won't occur until national leaders like President
Clinton, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and House
Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) call upon all government agencies
to honor the letter and spirit of the 1996 law. 

Reforming the Congressional Research Service is only a baby step
toward the revolution that legislators promised so bombastically. But
it's as good a place as any to start. 

To Take Action:

Rep. David Dreier (R-San Dimas), chairman, House Committee on Rules,
(202) 225-2305, www.house.gov/dreier, click on "Feedback"

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and
Administration, (202) 224-2541, e-mail, senator at mcconnell.senate.gov 

Copyright 1999 Los Angeles Times




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