Prez papers may soon be public again

The House has voted to overturn President Bush's November 2001 Executive Order that allowed former presidents to keep their papers secret indefinitely.

Bush came under criticism when the order was made public, primarily because it was seen to benefit his father, former President George H.W. Bush. The Executive Order also allowed former vice presidents to invoke executive privilege to keep their papers secret, also seen by many as a boon to Bush's father, and it extended to deceased presidents' designees rights to keep their papers secret indefinitely.

The provision in Bush's Executive Order that afforded former vice presidents the right to keep their papers secret was seen as the most blatant move for his father, since Bush Sr. served as President Reagan's veep for eight years before becoming president. Previously, only former presidents could invoke this type of executive privilege to stop the release of their papers.

As reported by Reuters,

"The measure, which drew bipartisan support and passed by a veto-busting 333-93 margin, was among White House-opposed bills the House passed that would widen
access to government information and protect government whistle blowers."

"Today, Congress took an important step toward restoring openness and transparency in government," House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman said.

Bush's original Executive Order placed the burden of proof on researchers and historians to demonstrate a "specific need" for records.

The bill passed by the House would give "current and former presidents 40 business days to object to requests to view their papers, allow a sitting president to override a former president's claim of executive privilege and strip former vice presidents and the designees of deceased presidents of the power to use executive privilege to block access to their historical documents." (Reuters)

Many historians argue that Bush's decree has been bad for historians and researchers, and has slowed the declassification process.

According to Reuters, Tom Blanton, director of the National Security Archives at George Washington University, said the average time to release presidential documents has grown to 78 months from 18 months since the Bush order, which he said directly contributed to one year of the lag.

This should come as no surprise, though - this is just one example of why the Bush Presidency has the well-earned reputation as one of the most secretive in history.

A bill similar to the House version is expected to be introduced in the Senate. Hopefully, that one will not only pass, but be bullet proof to a veto as well.

The DemocratICALLY controlled House also passed other measures that will increase openness in our government. It's worth noting that the White House also opposes these measures:

A whistle blower bill passed the House by a 331-94 margin (also firmly veto proof), aimed at increasing protections of government whistle blowers who report wrongdoing, especially those with private contractors and national security and scientific agencies. The White House has threatened a veto.

Another bill, which passed the House 308-117, is aimed at speeding requests for government information made under the Freedom of Information Act. The White House didn't threaten a veto with this one, but hinted strongly at it, saying it "couldn't support" the bill.

What the White House has failed to explain is why it doesn't support these bills. Or, should I say, hasn't adequately explained its opposition.

For instance, regarding the presidential papers bill, the White House lamely explained the reason requests have grown from an average of 18 months to 78 months (and increase of 50 months!) is because of a lack of adequate National Archive staff at presidential libraries. An increase of over four years because of a lack of staff? That's b.s., even for this administration.

It's good to see that Democrats are working to reverse the secrecy that has been cast over our government in the previous six years. Now let's hope these bills become law.