Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 121.djvu/2545

 121 STAT. 2524

PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007

Public Law 110–175 110th Congress An Act Dec. 31, 2007 [S. 2488]

Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007. 5 USC 101 note. 5 USC 552 note.

To promote accessibility, accountability, and openness in Government by strengthening section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act), and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007’’ or the ‘‘OPEN Government Act of 2007’’. SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

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Congress finds that— (1) the Freedom of Information Act was signed into law on July 4, 1966, because the American people believe that— (A) our constitutional democracy, our system of selfgovernment, and our commitment to popular sovereignty depends upon the consent of the governed; (B) such consent is not meaningful unless it is informed consent; and (C) as Justice Black noted in his concurring opinion in Barr v. Matteo (360 U.S. 564 (1959)), ‘‘The effective functioning of a free government like ours depends largely on the force of an informed public opinion. This calls for the widest possible understanding of the quality of government service rendered by all elective or appointed public officials or employees.’’; (2) the American people firmly believe that our system of government must itself be governed by a presumption of openness; (3) the Freedom of Information Act establishes a ‘‘strong presumption in favor of disclosure’’ as noted by the United States Supreme Court in United States Department of State v. Ray (502 U.S. 164 (1991)), a presumption that applies to all agencies governed by that Act; (4) ‘‘disclosure, not secrecy, is the dominant objective of the Act,’’ as noted by the United States Supreme Court in Department of Air Force v. Rose (425 U.S. 352 (1976)); (5) in practice, the Freedom of Information Act has not always lived up to the ideals of that Act; and (6) Congress should regularly review section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act), in order to determine whether further changes and improvements are necessary to ensure that the

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