Re: Group Troubled by Rise in Gov't Secrecy

On Sep 1, 1:13 pm, "Bob Brock" <bbr...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/bw-other/2007/aug/31/083107...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Government secrecy by almost any measure is expanding and
little is being done to stop it, according to a coalition of 67
organizations favoring greater openness.

From classified information to the president's use of the state secrets
privilege, the lack of disclosure should be a growing concern to the public
and the Congress, said Patrice McDermott, director of OpenTheGovernment.org,
which compiled a report using mostly the government's own figures.

"While some of the increased secrecy is attributable to a reaction to 9/11
and to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, there is also a significant
expansion of the power of the executive at the expense of the public, the
courts, and Congress," McDermott said Friday. "The executive branch seems to
believe that something is kept under wraps solely on its say-so, whether it
is legitimately so or not."

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said the administration's goal is to
effectively protect classified materials and to enforce laws and regulations
related to the handling of sensitive information.

From 2003-2005, the FBI made 143,074 requests for telephone companies,
Internet service providers, banks, credit bureaus and others to turn over
data, the coalition noted. The requests came in the form of national
security letters, which are administrative subpoenas that do not require a
judge's approval. In 2000, the FBI issued an estimated 8,500 such requests.

Last year, the number of decisions to classify documents was 231,995. Though
the figure was down from 258,633 in 2005, it was still significantly higher
than before 2001.

At the height of Cold War tensions between the United States and the former
Soviet Union, the presidents used the state secrets privilege six times from
1953 to 1976, enabling the government to unilaterally withhold documents
from the court system. Since 2001, it has been used 39 times, the report
said.

(...)

Check this tidbit out....

Feds to restrict volunteers at disasters By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated
Press Writer
2 hours, 33 minutes ago



Retiree Gene O'Brien hurried to the World Trade Center site after
Sept. 11, 2001, as a volunteer helping to shuttle supplies to police
and fire workers. Some days, his only ID to get into the disaster site
was a tattoo on his forearm.

"A couple times I showed them my Marine tattoo, and they said go
ahead," recalled O'Brien, adding that he and other volunteers also
came up with their own makeshift identification cards.

"We didn't forge anything, we just made them up with our own pictures
and at one point we copied a UPC code off a Pepsi can and they were as
good as gold," said the Scarsdale resident.

It might not be so easy the next time disaster strikes.

In an effort to provide better control and coordination, the federal
government is launching an ambitious ID program for rescue workers to
keep everyday people from swarming to a disaster scene. A prototype of
the new first responder identification card is already being issued to
fire and police personnel in the Washington, D.C., area.

Proponents say the system will get professionals on scene quicker and
keep untrained volunteers from making tough work more difficult.

But they also know it is a touchy subject, particularly for those
devoted to helping in moments of crisis.

"Wow, how in the world do we say this without love and respect in our
hearts?" said deputy assistant U.S. Fire Administrator Charlie
Dickinson.

"Everybody wants to come to the fight, so to speak, and no one wants
to step back and say 'No, I can't do this.' The final coup de grace
was the World Trade Center. Hundreds came that were never asked,"
Dickinson said. "Good intentions, good hearts, and it was extremely
difficult for the fire department and the other departments to deal
with them."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency came up with the idea after
the World Trade Center attack and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when
countless Americans rushed to help - unasked, undirected, and
sometimes unwanted.

Many of those volunteers angrily dispute the notion they were a
burden. They insist that in many instances they were able to deliver
respirators, hard hats, and protective boots to workers when no one
else seemed able.

Ground zero volunteer Rhonda Shearer and her daughter launched a fast-
moving supply system that bypassed regular channels, often infuriating
city officials.

Even as she delivered box trucks packed with supplies over months of
recovery work, she increasingly ended up in a cat-and-mouse game with
New York City's police and emergency management agency.

Shearer, 53, said the experience convinced that agencies are ill-
equipped to handle major disasters - but don't want outsiders pointing
out their failings.

Similar frustrations arose after Katrina, when people were shocked
that the government struggled to take basic supplies such as water to
the worst areas.

"They're more worried about keeping volunteers out than doing an
analysis of what really went wrong," said Shearer. "Independent
citizens need to be involved, where we have no ax to grind or cross to
bear. But we will tell the truth, and we will tell what we see and
bear witness to the incompetence."

Dickinson, the federal fire official, said the government is not
trying to discourage volunteers, but he thinks there should come a
time, within a few days of a disaster, when civilians step back and
let the professionals take control.

Supporters say the ID cards could be checked at a disaster area with a
card-reader device and used to verify a person's unique skills. For
example, if police officers have been trained to handle hazardous
materials, officials at the scene could deploy them to an area where
their skills would be best put to use.

For reasons ranging from general safety to protection from lawsuits,
construction and demolition companies want to see a disaster ID card
program succeed.

Mike Taylor, executive director of the National Demolition
Association, said his industry is talking with aides to Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger about putting it in place in his state.

"If California goes ahead and does that, it will flow across the
country. This is a really smart idea by someone in the Bush
administration to be able to control access to the site and frankly,
make sure there are no untrained people," said Taylor. "If somebody
goes running down to the site, you have to stop and ask them, wait,
are they certified to do this work?"


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