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Sunshine Week: Day 4

Nick | 14 March, 2007 14:07 | (193)

The Telegraph's Sunshine Week stories on Wednesday dealt with the removal of more than 1 million records from public view since Sept. 11, and a preview of open-government legislation that was expected to be voted upon by the House of Representatives today. A story on the results of those votes are scheduled to run in the Thursday issue of The Telegraph.

Here are the brief summaries and links to those Wednesday stories online:

Citing terrorism, a million records removed from sight

By FRANK BASS and RANDY HERSCHAFT, The Associated Press

More than 1 million pages of historical government documents – a stack taller than the U.S. Capitol – have been removed from public view since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, according to records obtained by The Associated Press. Some of the papers are more than a century old.

In some cases, entire file boxes were removed without significant review because the government’s central record-keeping agency, the National Archives and Records Administration, did not have time for a more thorough audit.

Here is the link to the full story.

Open-government bills up for a vote

By LAURIE KELLMAN, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- House Democrats hope to breathe new life into open-government legislation, marking Sunshine Week with votes to protect whistle-blowers, smooth freedom of information requests and compel presidential libraries to disclose more about their donors. Efforts to shield reporters from revealing their sources are not faring as well.

The House is to vote on as many as five bills coinciding with the week's annual campaign by open-government advocates to draw attention to a need for accessibility and accountability in the fight against abuse and waste.

Here is the link to the full story.

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