GOVERNMENT >
Cutting Holes in the Paper Curtain Bills being readied for Congress would force government agencies to reveal information now kept secret (CONDEMNING THE PAPER CURTAIN of
secrecy that has come down over government agency operations, Rep. John E. Moss (D.-Calif.) proposes to do something about it. He has just drafted a bill to amend some sections of the Administrative Procedure Act. These are the sections of t h e act government agencies use to justify withholding information from both the public and Congress. Under Rep. Moss* proposed bill, all administrative acts of government agencies would be made public. The only kinds of information that could be restricted would be: • Information already held confidential by other laws. • Facts which must be kept secret to protect national security. • information which would result in unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. • Twisting the Law. For nearly two years, Rep. Moss and his Subcommittee on Government Information have been probing the information policies of government agencies (C&EN, Aug. 13, 1956, page 3876). This investigation is still going on. During the hearings, many government agencies cited the public information section of the Administrative Procedure Act as authority for keeping information secret. This section of the 1946 act (5 U. S. C. 1002), says Moss, "was intended to prevent the imposition of bureaucratic secrecy on mushrooming administrative actions. Federal agencies, however, have seized on certain words and phrases in the law to keep information secret." Information is kept secret "in the public interest" or "for good cause found" or because it relates to "internal management." Matters of "official record" have been made available only to "persons properly and direcdy concerned." These five phrases, says Moss, have been twisted by agencies t o defeat the intent of the law. His proposed amendment, Moss says, removes these phrases which have been used as weak excuses to disregard the publico right to know. • Open Door Policy.
tive approach to the problem, the proposed Moss amendment sets up specific rules that all government agencies must follow. Heart of the amendment is a section that requires every agency to make available to the public all records, files, papers, and documents submitted to the agency. Included are all records of actions by the agency on the material received. Each agency must publish the rules it will use in making information available to the public. Every individual vote and official act of an agency must be made available to the public. To ensure compliance, no act or order of a government agency will be official until it is published. Even in the three areas where information can be kept secret, agencies must adopt public rules setting up the standards to be used for withholding information. Thus, says Rep. Moss, for the first time federal agencies are required to list the information they seek to keep secret. On the Senate side, Sen. Thomas C. Hennings, Jr. (D.-Mo.) is planning to introduce an identical bill. From hearings held by his Constitutional Rights Committee, Sen. Hennings concludes that there has been an alarming increase in the frequency with which public information has been improperly withheld. Says Sen. Hennings, "The
Potomac
Postscripts
• Rapid t a x amortization program hit the lowest point in its history as the Office of Defense Mobilization last week closed three more expansion goals—mercury, steam boilers, and oil and gas pipelines for specific defense programs. Only nine expansion goals are still open; at one time there were more than 200. Five of the goals still open, including nickel and strategic mica substitutes, are undergoing a new review by ODM to decide whether they should be continued. ODM plans no change in the recently-established goal for
bill 1 am introducing will tighten the language of the law so that the most zealous would-be censor should find difficulty in twisting its provisions." • Defense Protests. Announcement of the proposed bills drew strong protests from the Defense Department. This agency has been under heavy fire from the Subcommittee on Government Information (C&EN, March 25, page 30). Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson points out that no information can be restricted except as required by law. According to Wilson, the Defense Department's policy is to make the maximum amount of information available to the public. However, he says, in the over-all national interest some information cannot be made public. Denying that information has been improperly withheld from Congress, Wilson points out that under the doctrine of separation of powers some Executive Branch information is not available to Congress. Says Wilson, "The draft bill either ignores or seeks t o repeal the separation of powers."
Speeding Atoms Abroad International development of atomic energy is the most pressing of all the phases of our peaceful atomic program S o said AEC Commissioner Harold S Vance last week at a N e w York meeting of the Atomic Industrial Forum. In time the use of nuclear energy for heat and power production will be important to almost all parts of the world, Vance says. But the time schedule will not be uniform for all nations. Right now the high cost of imported fuel makes atomic power attractive to Western Europe. Active participation in Western Europe's power projects, especially such ambitious programs as Euratom liquid oxygon and liquid nitrogen. • Independent producers of natural gas will have to file reports on gas sales and revenues in 1956 i f a proposed ruling by the Federal Power Commission goes into effect. Last year FPC required producers to file similar reports for 1955 operations. Under the proposed rule FPC says producers will have t o file a minimum of information compared to the detailed data that could be required under the Natural Cas Act. Interested parties have until May 20 to submit written comments; FPC says it will consider these comments before taking action.
T a k i n g a posiMAY
6,
1957
C&EN
35
GOVERNMENT
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• Make available on an unclassified basis all t h e information w e now have on nuclear power development. • Make arrangements to exchange additional information quickly and easily as it is developed. • Be prepared to lease or sell (either outright or on installments) special nuclear materials and reactor materials such as heavy water. • Solve the problem of h o w to limit third party liability of American manu facturers who sell atomic equipment for use abroad. Some of these things the Atomic Energy Commission can do; others re quire action b y Congress. But, says Vance, Government cannot do it all. Industry must play a vital part if our international program is to move ahead rapidly. American indus try must actively solicit atomic power business abroad to meet the competition from foreign industry.
Narcotics Control Plan
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ORGANIC CHEMICAL
(C&EN, Feb. 2 5 , page 5 8 ) , pays divi dends in t w o ways: W e will strengthen our ties with other nations. Informa tion on costs and other details of plant operation, which other nations have agreed to give us, could save the United States a good deal of money. r Urgent Program. The United States already has a program in opera tion to develop atomic energy abroad. But, says Vance, to speed up the pro gram we should take these steps im mediately:
State
Present federal laws to control nar cotics were written when these drugs were produced from natural products such as opium poppies and coca leaves. The development of narcotics pro duced synthetically from readily avail able raw materials has outmoded these laws, says Rep. Frank M. Karsten ( D . Mo.). A bill (H. R. 6 8 9 5 ) introduced by Rep. Karsten would control narcotics production b y a system of licenses and production quotas. Under terms of the bill, each manufacturer of narcotics, synthetic or natural, must obtain a license from the Treasury Department. Each year the Secretary of the Treasury would set a production quota for each drug that a manufacturer is licensed to produce. Over-all produc tion quotas would b e set on the basis of expected demand for medical and scientific use. Quotas would be sub ject to revision at any time. So far, the House Ways and Means Committee has scheduled no hearings on the bill.
