Today, Congress took steps to "fix an existing problem" in a manner is good for the press and the general public.
The OPEN Government Act is the first meaningful reform of the Freedom of Information Act in 10 years. The bill was even more necessary as a result of the Bush's administration's clampdown on FOIA requests after 9/11 and the policy of former Attorney General John Ashcroft instructing agencies to lean toward withholding information if they are uncertain about releasing it.
The bill sent to the Pres today:
* Restores meaningful deadlines for agency action under FOIA;
* Imposes real consequences on federal agencies for missing FOIA’s 20-day statutory deadline; and
* Clarifies that FOIA applies to government records held by outside private contractors
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1207/121907cdam2.htm
Another small step for transparency in government.