{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20141209153516/http://www.cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=NewsReleases&ContentRecord_id=9f397884-093c-41e1-b95b-0278a691bd7d", "Senate Passes Cornyn, Leahy FOIA Improvement Act", "2014-12-08", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "John Cornyn", "C001056", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) hailed the Senate\u2019s passage Monday of historic legislation that strengthens the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the nation\u2019s premier open government law.\nThe FOIA Improvement Act of 2014, which was\u00a0approved unanimously\u00a0by the Judiciary Committee last month, requires Federal agencies to operate under a \u201cpresumption of openness\u201d when considering the release of government information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). \u00a0This is the same language the President laid out in his historic\u00a0memorandum\u00a0in 2009, and which is already being\u00a0followed\u00a0by government agencies. \u00a0The Leahy-Cornyn bill would make this presumption a permanent fixture in FOIA.\u00a0 The legislation would not require the disclosure of information that is prohibited from being released, such as classified information.\n\u201cMaintaining an open government is fundamental to our democracy. The FOIA Improvement Act will help open the government to all Americans by placing an emphasis on openness and transparency, rather than allowing agencies simply to hide behind exemptions,\u201d\u00a0Leahy and Cornyn said in a joint statement.\nThe Senators added:\u00a0\u201cWith the Senate\u2019s action today, it is critical the House take up and pass the FOIA Improvement Act this week so it can be enacted this year.\u201d\nThe FOIA Improvement Act is supported by more than\u00a070 groups\u00a0that advocate for government transparency, as well as the\u00a0Sunshine in Government Initiative.\u00a0 An outline of the FOIA Improvement Act can be found\u00a0here, and text of legislation can be found\u00a0online.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20141209153516/http://www.cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=NewsReleases&ContentRecord_id=9f397884-093c-41e1-b95b-0278a691bd7d"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 4.72213514149189, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}