Republicans Press for Greater Disclosure
<http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2009/05/republicans.html>
Questions of secrecy and disclosure are increasingly prominent in
congressional interactions with the executive branch, particularly on the
part of Republican members of Congress.
House Republicans wrote (pdf) to Defense Secretary Gates this week to
complain about what they called "a disturbing trend of restricting budget
and inspection information within the Department of Defense."
They complained specifically about a recent policy of classifying reports of
ship inspections that were previously unclassified. "It is sometimes only
through the media and public awareness. that we learn of the urgent need to
address some of the shortfalls the military has.. If these reports are
classified, we are unable to communicate these needs to the public," wrote
Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-VA) and several Republican colleagues from the House
Armed Services Committee on May 5.
Meanwhile, the Obama Administration has a "moral obligation" to declassify
records concerning Uighur detainees who might be released into the United
States from Guantanamo, insisted Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA).
"This administration has already shown that it has no qualms about releasing
selected classified documents," Rep. Wolf said on May 4, referring to the
release of Office of Legal Counsel memos on torture. "The White House cannot
just pick and choose what classified information it deems worthy of
releasing.. I call on the Obama administration to declassify and release all
the information that they have available [about the Uighur detainees] so the
American people can make a judgment."
----
Mark Perkins MLIS, MCLIP
www.markperkins.info
0 comments:
Post a Comment