by James Kellard

Created on: May 16, 2009

The Freedom of Information Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966 in order to keep the public informed on government actions. Obviously there are restrictions, if there is information that may threaten national security by releasing it, I'm sure we would all agree that it is better to wait before those documents are made public. The FOIA applies to federal agencies, requiring them to release information to the public provided it does not threaten national security or foreign policy. There are some other exceptions restricting the release of information including divulging "trade secrets," releasing internal practices of federal agencies, and making medical records or other personal information public.

Since knowledge is power, the FOIA gives more power to the public by allowing us to have access to governmental information (granted sometimes not for years), therefore being able to keep tabs on what our government is doing. For some reason, Congress exempted itself from the Freedom of Information Act years ago.

When President Bush attempted to keep information from being released under the FOIA, Congress was in an uproar. Can you imagine what Congress would do if he, or President Obama attempted to exempt themselves from the FOIA as Congress has?

Considering the fact that, as they all know themselves to be, Congresspersons are walking deities, it is no wonder that they should be allowed to play by different rules than everyone else. Federal agencies are required to abide by the FOIA so why not Congress? Is there anything that Congress is doing that is more important to keep secret than the FBI or executive branch?

As with the other agencies participating in the FOIA, any information that may potentially damage national security or reveal privileged information will not be required to be released (apparently this also includes Congressperson's E-mail). One can only assume that the reason Congress would not participate in the Freedom of Information Act is that it will make public all of the secret wheeling and dealing that they partake in without the public knowing. As usual Congress is only interested in power and protecting themselves.

With all of the issues we have going on these days it is extremely important to ensure that our government (executive, judicial and congressional branches), is doing what is in our best interest. Since 2008 our hard earned money has been going to bailout some of the biggest companies in the world. We

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