Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced another bipartisan Freedom of Information bill last week that would require any new bills that exempt information from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to say so within the text. This bill joins several bills aimed at strengthening FOIA, while several others would chip away at the act. Introduced on May 7, the new legislation (S. 1181) takes a section from another Cornyn and Leahy FOIA bill, the OPEN Government Act, and introduces it as a stand-alone bill. Section 8 of the OPEN Government Act requires that anytime Congress introduces legislation that would exempt information from disclosure under FOIA, it must explicitly say so within the bill text. Cornyn explained the need for the stand-alone bill, stating, "The justification for this provision is simple: Congress should not establish new secrecy provisions through secret means. If Congress is to establish a new exemption to FOIA, it should do so in the open and in the light of day." The new bill already passed through the Committee on Judiciary June 9 and may have an easier time passing through Congress than the larger OPEN Government Act, which is expected to be a longer battle. The senators introduced the bill just days after a June 3 Cox News Service article pointed out 140 cases where FOIA exemptions were inserted into legislation. One current example of one of these exemptions is language in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal year 2006. As reported in a previous Watcher, the Defense Intelligence Agency within the Department of Defense is looking to obtain a FOIA exemption for its "operational files." This could hide a great deal of information that the public needs to hold the government accountable. The House stripped the measure from its version of the bill, H.R. 1815, however the Senate version (S. 1042) contains the exemption language in section 922. In fact, the Senate Committee on Armed Services recommended the exemption in its report. Congress rejected the same exemption for the agency in 2000. Several other bills currently pending in Congress would chip away at FOIA.

• H.R. 1256 would consider information on animal identification "commercial information," therefore hiding information about the food supply.
• H.R. 1360 would label information about claims of asbestos-related disease and injury as a "confidential commercial or financial record."
• H.R.1513 would add an additional exemption to the FOIA statute to block the release of any photos of deceased individuals.