American Association of Law Libraries · American Civil Liberties Union
American Immigration Lawyers Association · American Library Association
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee · Americans for Democratic Action
Arab American Institute · Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Association of Research Libraries · Center for Democracy and Technology
Children's Environmental Health Network · Clean Production Network
Common Cause · Communications Workers of America
Cook Inlet Keeper · Council on American-Islamic Relations
Council on Professional Association of Federal Statistics · Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Privacy Information Center · Environmental Advocates of NY
Environmental Defense · Federation of American Scientists · Freedom of Information Center
Friends of the Earth · Fund for Constitutional Government
Government Accountability Project · Greenpeace · Maryland Pesticide Network
National Environmental Trust · Natural Resources Defense Council
New Jersey Public Interest Research Group · New Jersey Work Environment Council
Ohio Citizen Action · Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition · OMB Watch
People for the American Way · Pesticide Action Network, North America
Powder River Basin Resource Council · Privacy Activism · Privacy Times
Project on Government Oversight · Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Sierra Club · Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition · Society of Professional Journalists
Strategic Counsel on Corporate Accountability · U.S. Public Interest Research Group
University of Missouri School of Journalism · West Harlem Environmental Action
Working Group on Community Right-to-Know
FIX THE CRITICIAL INFRASTRUCUTRE INFORMATION SUBTITLE IN THE HOMELAND SECURITY ACT OF 2002
The undersigned organizations are concerned about the current language for Critical Infrastructure Information in the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which contains ambiguous definitions that could unintentionally allow companies to keep broad categories of information secret and provisions that restrict the government's ability to use the information. In order to better serve the goal of improving public safety and security, we support efforts to fix the Homeland Security Act by clarifying the scope of the information protected and removing provisions that overly restrict the government's ability to use the information.
Senators Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Jeffords (I-VT), Lieberman (D-CT), and Byrd (D-WV) will soon introduce legislation entitled the Restoration of Freedom of Information Act of 2003 (""Restore FOIA"") addressing these concerns, using bipartisan language developed last year by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. The Restore FOIA solution would:
- Clarify the FOIA exemption to be more consistent with established law.
- Remove the restrictions on the government's ability to act as it sees fit in response to the information it receives.
- Preserve whistleblower protections by removing unnecessary criminal penalties.
The information provisions currently within the Homeland Security Act of 2002 do not accomplish the goal of the law -- empowering the government to protect citizens using private-sector information which is ""voluntarily"" shared and identifies potential vulnerabilities to terrorist attacks. The current language could have devastating effects on the work of the government to protect public health, safety and security, as well as government accountability. It is essential that these problems in the Homeland Security Act be fixed immediately before they become too firmly entrenched in the law.
Jean AbiNader
Managing Director
Arab American Institute
Prudence S. Adler
Associate Executive Director
Association of Research Libraries
Steven Aftergood
Project Director
Federation of American Scientists
Nihad Awad
Executive Director
Council on American-Islamic Relations
Gary Bass
Executive Director
OMB Watch
Jeremiah Baumann
Director, Toxics Right to Know Campaign
U.S. Public Interest Research Group
Ruth Berlin
Executive Director
MD Pesticide Network
Lynne Bradley
Director, Government Relations
American Library Association
Danielle Brian
Executive Director
Project on Government Oversight
Sandy Buchanan
Executive Director
Ohio Citizen Action
Jeanne Butterfield
Executive Director
American Immigration Lawyers Association
Alyssondra Campaigne
Legislative Director
Natural Resources Defense Council
Kevin S. Curtis
Vice President - Government Affairs
National Environmental Trust
Lucy Dalglish
Executive Director
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Charles N. Davis
Executive Director
Freedom of Information Center
University of Missouri School of Journalism
Tom Devine
Legal Director
Government Accountability Project
Karen De Vito
Regulatory Watch Project Director
Environmental Advocates of NY
Rick Engler
Director
New Jersey Work Environment Council
Darryl Fagin
Legislative Director
Americans for Democratic Action
Margaret Fung
Executive Director
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Vickie Goodwin
Organizer
Powder River Basin Resource Council
Evan Hendricks
Editor/Publisher
Privacy Times
Rick Hind
Legislative Director
Greenpeace
Khalil Jahshan
Director of Government Affairs
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Susan E. Kegley
Staff Scientist/Program Coordinator
Pesticide Action Network, North America
Robert Leger
President
Society of Professional Journalists
Dave LeGrande
Director, Occupational Safety & Health
CWA/AFL-CIO
Sanford Lewis
Director
Strategic Counsel on Corporate Accountability
Conrad Martin
Executive Director
Fund for Constitutional Government
Alexandra McPherson
Director
Clean Production Action
Dena Mottola
Acting Director
New Jersey Public Interest Research Group
Laura W. Murphy
Director, Washington National Office
American Civil Liberties Union
Ralph G. Neas
President
People for the American Way
Robert Oakley
Washington Affairs Representative
American Association of Law Libraries
Paul Orum
Director
Working Group on Community Right-to-Know
Deborah Pierce
Executive Director
Privacy Activism
Chellie Pingree
President and CEO
Common Cause
Ari Schwartz
Associate Director
Center for Democracy and Technology
Debbie Sease
Legislative Director
Sierra Club
Bob Shavelson
Executive Director
Cook Inlet Keeper
Peggy M. Shepard
Executive Director
West Harlem Environmental Action
Ted Smith
Executive Director
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
David Sobel
General Counsel
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Ed Spar
Executive Director
Council on Professional Association of Federal Statistics
Vivian Stockman
Communications Coordinator
Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
Daniel Swartz
Executive Director
Children's Environmental Health Network
Lee Tien
Senior Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Elizabeth Thompson
Legislative Director
Environmental Defense
Sara Zdeb
Legislative Director
Friends of the Earth