The current administration is removing information pertaining to women’s issues from government websites, according to a new report by the National Council for Research on Women (NCRW). The report, “Missing: Information About Women’s Lives” cites a number of examples from the Department of Labor (DOL), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and other agencies as it catalogs how the Bush administration is removing or distorting information. The report documents how agencies such as the Women’s Bureau within the DOL have changed under the new administration. A number of publications that women across the country use to protect themselves in the workplace have been removed from websites, including a report entitled Don’t Work in the Dark – Know Your Rights, easily available online in 1999. Even the mission statement of the agency has changed, revealing a new modus operandi to provide less information. The former mission statement described the bureau’s mandate “to advocate and inform women directly and the public as well, of women’s rights and employment issues” and “to ensure that the voices of working women are heard, and their priorities represent in the public policy arena.” The new 2002 statement reads, “We will empower women to enhance their potential for securing more satisfying employment as they seek to balance their work-life needs.” There is no mention of informing women of their rights or advocating on their behalf. The Census Bureau also twisted data to give a rosier impression of how women are faring in the workplace. In 2000, the website acknowledged, “Women have almost achieved parity in education attainment…but no earnings equality.” In 2003, the “Facts and Features” page stated the earnings gap between women and men, 76 cents compared to a dollar respectively, showed that women’s salaries were pegged “at an all-time high.” Other examples include CDC’s unwillingness to provide information on how condom use can protect women from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases on its website. This information was found online in a fact sheet before it was revised in December 2002. Moreover, HHS released a report documenting the racial and ethnic disparities in health care. The executive summary was altered to appear more positive than the evidence concluded, as was admitted by HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson. The NCRW report outlines a number of other examples in which the current administration is twisting information to fit its ideology. An extensive list is being posted and updated on NCRW's website under the MisInformation Exchange. This ongoing problem of government secrecy and hiding information from the public is manifesting itself in almost every government agency. For other examples, read a few of OMB Watch’s previous articles -- “Government Web Pages Altered to Hide Information”, “Office of Special Counsel Scrubs Website”, and “White House Stamps Out EPA Findings on Climate Change”.