House nullifies Bush's Presidential Records Act order

(Not sure which board this should go on, but it IS current news)

Anyone with an interest in sunshine laws will be happy to know:

On Wednesday, the U.S. House nullified Bush's 2001 executive order that gave current and former POTUS and VPOTUS the authority to withhold presidential records or delay their release indefinitely. HR 1255 also establishes procedures to ensure the timely release of presidential records.

The House also passed four other open-government bills Wednesday: the Freedom of Information Act Amendments (HR 1309), the Presidential Library Donation Reform Act (HR 1254), the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (HR 985) and the Accountability in Contracting Act (HR 1362).

From the WaPo story: "They were introduced for government 'Sunshine Week,' an effort by the American Society of Newspaper Editors and other open-government groups to protest what they consider excessive government secrecy ..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/14/AR2007031402300.html?sub=AR

 

Kudos to House Republicans for getting on board with this. More transparency in government is always a good thing and the GOP recognizes that. Just wish we could get the White House on board.