{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/with-adjournment-now-only-hours-away-leahy-calls-on-house-to-pass-foia-improvement-act", "With Adjournment Now Only Hours Away, Leahy Calls On House To Pass FOIA Improvement Act", "2014-12-10", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "VT", "Patrick Leahy", "L000174", "www.leahy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12.10.14\n\t\t\t With Adjournment Now Only Hours Away, Leahy Calls On House To Pass FOIA Improvement Act \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON (Wednesday, December 10, 2014) -- Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) called on the House to pass the bipartisan FOIA Improvement Act that the Senate unanimously approved earlier this week before adjourning for the year.\r\n\u201cThis legislation is all about government transparency. If House Republicans want this administration to be more accountable, then they must put it on the suspension calendar without delay. Let\u2019s get it done,\u201d Leahy said. \u201cWith the sun about to set on this congressional session, the House should not leave this sunshine bill undone, on the table.\u00a0 Time is quickly running out, and the House must act without further delay.\u201d\r\nThe bill strengthens the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the nation\u2019s premier open government law, by requiring Federal agencies to operate under a \u201cpresumption of openness\u201d when considering the release of government information. This is the same language the President laid out in his historic memorandum in 2009, and which is already being followed by 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, and Leahy worked with relevant Committees in the Senate to ensure the bill would allow government attorneys to do their jobs while still upholding transparency.\r\nLeahy worked with Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), his longtime partner on transparency issues, to usher their bipartisan bill through the Senate. The FOIA Improvement Act is supported by more than 70 groups that advocate for government transparency, as well as the Sunshine in Government Initiative.\u00a0 An outline of the FOIA Improvement Act can be found here, and text of legislation can be found online.\r\n# # # # #\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t Press Contact \n\t\t\t\tPress Contact  David Carle: 202-224-3693\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\t\n\t\n\t\n  \n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 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": ["http://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/with-adjournment-now-only-hours-away-leahy-calls-on-house-to-pass-foia-improvement-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.1908290218561888, "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"}