05.nov.07
statesman.com
Rebecca Carr
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/secrecy/entries/2007/11/05/secrecy_in_farm_bill.html
You might think that the massive farm bill now on the table has nothing to do with government secrecy, but it does.
This blog post says that OpenTheGovernment.org, an umbrella organization of conservative and liberal organizations, discovered a provision in the measure that would create an exemption to the Freedom of Information Act for all records related to the Agriculture Department?s animal identification system.
The National Animal Identification System tracks sick animals through the system, among other things. It includes cows with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, commonly known as ?mad cow,? disease.
Patrice McDermott, director of OpenTheGovernment.org, is lobbying against the provision because it would ?create an unnecessary bar? to finding out about the condition of animals in the nation?s food supply and how they are handled in the system.
?With food safety concerns on the rise, it doesn?t make sense that the public can?t find out if an animal is sick,? McDermott was quoted as saying.
McDermott is sending the letter below to 70 groups in the hopes of delivering it to the Hill tomorrow.
The provision makes it illegal to release information about animals monitored by the system. This violates the Open Government Act, legislation sponsored by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., that strengthens the Freedom of Information Act.
In that measure, the Senate said all new exemptions to FOIA must be marked in legislation.
Under the exemption, only the Agriculture Department secretary would be allowed to disclose NAIS information.