sunshine week joint letter final

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President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 March 10, 2015 Re: Requested White House Actions in Commemoration of Sunshine Week 2015 Dear President Obama: Throughout the United States, federal and state government, media, non-profits, and the public will be celebrating Sunshine Week, an annual event spotlighting the right to know, from March 15th – 21st. The time is ripe, therefore, not only to examine the state of access to government information, but also to make strong advances in government openness. At the very outset of your Presidency, you committed to increase government transparency and accountability. We, the undersigned organizations, ask that you take the following steps this Sunshine Week to honor that commitment: Support the ‘Presumption of Openness’ in FOIA Reform The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is the foundational tool for the public to request information about government activities. There is a bipartisan and bicameral effort in Congress right now to strengthen FOIA. In support of these efforts, the White House should issue a formal public statement of support for Congressional initiatives to codify the Administration’s own directive and its strong presumption of openness. For a more open government, the Administration should support legislation that ensures agencies may not withhold information unless they reasonably foresee that disclosure will cause specific identifiable harm to an interest protected by an existing exemption, or if the disclosure is prohibited by law. Release the Drafts of the TPP and T-TIP Pacts The United States Trade Representative’s negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) trade agreements have remained shrouded in secrecy. Without access to information about these negotiations, the public has been and continues to be denied the opportunity to express their views about agreements impacting everything from the internet to intellectual property to public health. Proactively Disclose FISA Data for which Disclosure Would be Mandated under Sen. Leahy’s 2014 USA Freedom Act The White House rightly supported the reforms outlined in Senator Leahy’s USA Freedom Act in the previous Congress. These reforms would have included a requirement that our intelligence agencies report on the total number of individuals or unique accounts whose information is collected under multiple surveillance authorities, and on the number of those who likely were U.S. persons (or, if that were not technically feasible to determine, the number who likely were located in the United States). Whether or not Congress statutorily requires such disclosures, your Administration can take those steps independently to promote better public understanding and appropriate oversight of US surveillance programs.

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Defending Dissent Foundation joined 22 other pro-transparency groups suggesting ways the Obama administration could celebrate Sunshine week. We're halfway through the week, and, as yet, nada.Here's what we asked President Obama to do:1. Support the FOIA Reform Act. It's in Congress now, it has bi-partisan support, and it enacts suggestions made by the President himself. [note: you can send an email to your members of Congress asking them to support the bill here].2. Release the drafts of the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) and the T-TIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), so that Americans can weigh in on treaty provisions that impact internet freedom, public health and more.3. Disclose how many people in the U.S. are getting their data swept up by the NSA and FBI under various authorities. The USA Freedom Act would require disclosure of FISA data... the President supports that bill, there is no reason he has to wait for Congress to pass it to do what is right.4. Issue a statement of support for restoring Intelligence Community contractor whistleblower protections. Right now, if a contractor blows the whistle on waste, fraud or abuse they are defenseless against retaliation.Let's see if the President will live up to his claim that his adminstration is the most transparent ever. He still has a few days left this week.

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  • President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 March 10, 2015 Re: Requested White House Actions in Commemoration of Sunshine Week 2015 Dear President Obama: Throughout the United States, federal and state government, media, non-profits, and the public will be celebrating Sunshine Week, an annual event spotlighting the right to know, from March 15th 21st. The time is ripe, therefore, not only to examine the state of access to government information, but also to make strong advances in government openness. At the very outset of your Presidency, you committed to increase government transparency and accountability. We, the undersigned organizations, ask that you take the following steps this Sunshine Week to honor that commitment: Support the Presumption of Openness in FOIA Reform The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is the foundational tool for the public to request information about government activities. There is a bipartisan and bicameral effort in Congress right now to strengthen FOIA. In support of these efforts, the White House should issue a formal public statement of support for Congressional initiatives to codify the Administrations own directive and its strong presumption of openness. For a more open government, the Administration should support legislation that ensures agencies may not withhold information unless they reasonably foresee that disclosure will cause specific identifiable harm to an interest protected by an existing exemption, or if the disclosure is prohibited by law. Release the Drafts of the TPP and T-TIP Pacts The United States Trade Representatives negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) trade agreements have remained shrouded in secrecy. Without access to information about these negotiations, the public has been and continues to be denied the opportunity to express their views about agreements impacting everything from the internet to intellectual property to public health. Proactively Disclose FISA Data for which Disclosure Would be Mandated under Sen. Leahys 2014 USA Freedom Act The White House rightly supported the reforms outlined in Senator Leahys USA Freedom Act in the previous Congress. These reforms would have included a requirement that our intelligence agencies report on the total number of individuals or unique accounts whose information is collected under multiple surveillance authorities, and on the number of those who likely were U.S. persons (or, if that were not technically feasible to determine, the number who likely were located in the United States). Whether or not Congress statutorily requires such disclosures, your Administration can take those steps independently to promote better public understanding and appropriate oversight of US surveillance programs.

  • Issue a Statement of Support for Restoring Intelligence Community Contractor Whistleblower Protections Intelligence community contractors are currently defenseless against retaliation for disclosing government waste, fraud and abuse. Congress has worked to expand whistleblower protections throughout your Presidency, and restoration of protections for intelligence contractors would help to safeguard taxpayer dollars and encourage greater accountability. This Sunshine Week, the White House should make clear its support for restoration of these critical protections. We hope that you will take these steps to further government openness and accountability, Mr. President, and look forward to working with your Administration this Sunshine Week and beyond to those ends.

    Sincerely,

    American Booksellers for Free Expression

    American Library Association

    American Society of News Editors

    Association of Alternative Newsmedia

    Association of Research Libraries

    Bill of Rights Defense Committee

    Brennan Center for Justice

    Center for Effective Government

    Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists

    Defending Dissent Foundation

    DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

    Food & Water Watch

    Government Accountability Project

    James Madison Project

    National Freedom of Information Coalition

    New England First Amendment Coalition

    OpenTheGovernment.org

    Pesticide Action Network North America

    Project On Government Oversight

    Public Citizen

    Society of American Archivists

    Society of Professional Journalists

    Sunlight Foundation