New US Congress

[Tim Gratz]

Bill, maybe this has been noted before but we ought to determine if by chance Robert Tannenbaum is a constituent of Rep. Waxman.

[William Kelly]

Bill, maybe this has been noted before but we ought to determine if by chance Robert Tannenbaum is a constituent of Rep. Waxman.

They have to know each other.

Tannenbaum was mayor of Beverly Hills and Waxman is representative of that district.

BK

[Tim Gratz]

Bill, if we can bury the hatchet (some place other than in the other's back) I am willing to help you put together an effort for the hearing you want. I would suggest taking some time, putting together a memorandum to support a hearing (with detailed reasons why), getting the letter signed by people who might add credibility (I would suggest the authors of books on the assassination but I probably would not bother to ask VB).

Don't you think it likely that VB must also know Rep. Waxman?

[Tim Gratz]

Rep Waxman certainly has an interesting district.

Would not surprise me if Ed Asner knows him.

Mr. Asner told me he is willing to help.

[William Kelly]

Rep Waxman certainly has an interesting district.

Would not surprise me if Ed Asner knows him.

Mr. Asner told me he is willing to help.

Warren Beaty also lives in Waxman's district.

I'll ask Warren to write him a letter.

BK

[Tim Gratz]

Now just slow down a bit, Bill.

IMO what is needed is a very carefully written "brief" why oversight hearings are needed, with of course a reference to that portion of the JFK Records Act you cited.

Then I think a letter could be written to Rep. Waxman enclosing the brief. Rather than an "endorsement" from Asner, Beatty or both, I wonder if it would not be better if the letter was signed by recognized assassination experts (presumably authors of assassination books). I also wonder whether or not Blakey would be willing to add his name, considering how angry he is at the CIA over its duplicity in the Joannides matter.

Once all this is put together, I think some intelligence could be gathered re who would be the best to deliver the letter to Waxman. It would be great to enlist someone who is very close to Waxman. In other words, perhaps Asner or Beatty could tell us who is very close to Waxman and who could perhaps be enlisted to undertake this very important task.

When the letter and brief are delivered to Waxman, I would assume it would be proper protocol to send a copy of both to every member of Waxman's committee.

But, in my opinion, at least, the first thing to be done is to prepare a "brief" or memorandum showing why the oversight is needed. I think going in "prepared" is the best way to accomplish what you want done. In other words, start work immediately but don't blow it by rushing it. Show Waxman great professionalism.

[Tim Gratz]

Rep Conyers chaired hearings in 1993-1994 re the JFK case. Gerald Posner testified.

Does anyone know what hearings these were about? Was it leading to either the passage of or the extension of the JFK Records Act?

[William Kelly]

Congress widens public information access

http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs...NEWS01/71218070

By LAURIE KELLMAN

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress is moving to reverse one area of the Bush administration's trend toward secrecy since the 2001 terrorist attacks by expanding the Freedom of Information Act, increasing penalties for noncompliance and making recordsheld by government contractors subject to the law.

The White House isn't saying whether President Bush will sign the bill once the House acts on it Tuesday. With a congressional recess starting at the end of the week, that raises the possibility that the act's first makeover in a decade could become law without his signature. The Senate passed the bill last week.

The legislation reverses an order by former Attorney General John Ashcroft in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks instructing agencies to lean against releasing information if there was any uncertainty about how it would affect national security.

A previously passed version was rewritten this month to meet House concerns about how government agencies would pay for attorneys' fees when they lose or settle a FOIA lawsuit. That money will now have to come from other programs within each agency.

Supporting changes in the law were dozens of media outlets, including The Associated Press.

The bill restores a presumption of disclosure standard committing government agencies to releasing requested information unless there is a finding that such disclosure could do harm.

Agencies would be required to meet a 20-day deadline for responding to FOIA requests. Their FOIA offices would have to forward requests for information to the appropriate agency office within 10 days of receiving them.

It they fail to meet the 20-day deadline, agencies would have to refund search and duplication fees for noncommercial requesters. They also would have to explain any redaction by citing the specific exemption under which the blacked-out information qualifies. Nonproprietary information held by government contractors also would be subject to the law.

The legislation also creates a system for the media and public to track the status of their FOIA requests. It establishes a hotline service for all federal agencies to deal with problems and an ombudsman to provide an alternative to litigation in disclosure disputes.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has been working with the Justice Department on the legislation and has said he expects the president to sign it.

But as the House vote loomed Tuesday, the White House wasn't committing the president to any such action.

Asked whether Bush would sign, veto or ignore the bill, White House spokesman Tony Fratto responded only that the legislation "is certainly an improvement" over previous versions.

There may be a key reason for the non-commitment: Congress is about to recess -- but not adjourn -- for the year. Under the Constitution, legislation passed by a Congress technically in session that is not signed by the president within 10 days automatically becomes law.

This pocket-veto-in-reverse would give Bush some political cover, allowing the FOIA bill to become law without taking the affirmative step of endorsing it.

The White House, however, wouldn't say if that is Bush's plan.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is planning to keep the Senate officially in session by holding a brief -- often only seconds long -- "pro forma" session every four business days over the winter break to prevent Bush from making recess appointments not subject to Senate confirmation.

Published: December 18. 2007 6:29PM

Edited December 19, 2007 by William Kelly

[William Kelly]

NEW FOIA AMENDMENT PASSED BY CONGRESS, SIGNED BY BUSH AT THE RANCH.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/sha...vernment_g.html

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/ne...se,248774.shtml

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20071218/index.htm

President Signs FOIA Amendment;

First FOIA Reform Bill In More Than A Decade Becomes Law

Bill Provides “Common Sense” Solutions for Openness Problems: Penalties for Delays, Tracking Systems for Requests, Ombuds-style Office to Mediate Disputes, Better Agency Reporting

Reforms Recommended by Archive Audits and Testimony

Updated - January 2, 2008

For more information contact:

Thomas Blanton/Meredith Fuchs/Kristin Adair: 202/994-7000

Washington DC, January 2, 2008 - In one of his last decisions of the year on Monday, December 31, 2007, President Bush signed into law the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reform bill (S. 2488). The bill, the OPEN Government Act of 2007, was passed unanimously by both the House and the Senate in December. The new law aims to fix some of the most persistent problems in the FOIA system, including excessive delay, lack of responsiveness, and litigation gamesmanship by federal agencies. Upon the President’s approval, certain provisions in the reform bill went into effect immediately, while others will apply to federal agencies beginning one year after enactment, on December 31, 2008.

The OPEN Government Act mandates tracking numbers for FOIA requests that take longer than 10 days to process to ensure they will no longer fall through the cracks and provides incentives to agencies to avoid litigation and processing delays. For the first time, there will be a penalty for agencies who do not comply with the FOIA’s time limits. When the provision goes into effect, agencies will no longer be permitted to charge requesters search fees (or, in the case of news media and educational requesters, duplication fees) when the agencies miss the 20-day deadline set out in the FOIA. Requesters who are forced to go to court to obtain information under FOIA will be eligible for attorneys’ fees if the agency reverses its position after it is sued.

The new law also requires agencies to report more accurately to Congress and the public on their FOIA programs and creates the Office of Government Information Services at the National Archives to mediate conflicts between agencies and requesters and review agency FOIA performance. The creation of a new ombuds-type office is inspired in part by positive experiences in a number of states with information commissioners and attorney general offices providing mediation services for requesters. In addition, many countries around the world have established information commissioners as part of their FOI regimes, resulting in the successful resolution of many disputes without litigation whether the body is given binding decisionmaking power or purely advisory capacity.

In addition, the law codifies the definition currently used by most courts to determine which requesters are considered representatives of the news media and therefore entitled to reduced processing fees. However, this provision is unlikely to change the status of bloggers and some other freelance journalists who do not qualify for news media treatment under existing law. S. 2488 also includes a provision requiring agencies to inform requesters about the amount of information redacted from documents released under FOIA and the exemption justifying each deletion.

Contrary to some news reports, the new law does not include a provision that was originally contained in legislation introduced in the House to reverse the presumption of secrecy applied by federal agencies pursuant to an October 2001 memorandum issued by Attorney General John Ashcroft. However, the spirit of the new law counters the government’s tendency toward increased secrecy in recent years by providing greater oversight of agency decisions on FOIA requests through better reporting and a new independent body to which requesters can turn when agencies improperly withhold information.

“Our six government-wide audits of FOIA performance show that these bipartisan changes to the Freedom of Information Act are common sense solutions,” remarked Meredith Fuchs, general counsel of the National Security Archive. “This bill establishes tracking systems for FOIA requests like FedEx uses for packages, actually penalizes agencies for the first time for delays that our audits found could reach 20 years, and sets up an office to mediate disputes as an alternative to litigation.”

The OPEN Government Act represents a bipartisan effort that has stretched over several years, spearheaded by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and John Cornyn (R-TX), the original co-sponsors of the OPEN Government Act of 2007, Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA), and Congressman William Lacy Clay (D-MO). The Senate bill was also co-sponsored by Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), who originally opposed the bill and held up its passage. Efforts to amend the FOIA have faced stumbling blocks in part because of strong administration opposition to earlier versions of this FOIA reform bill in both the House and the Senate.

“This is the bill that President Bush wrote an executive order to try to prevent,” said Tom Blanton, director of the Archive, referring to E.O. 13392 (December 14, 2005), which called for a “citizen-centered and results-oriented approach” to FOIA, established Chief FOIA Officers at each of 92 major agencies, and required agencies to evaluate their FOIA programs and draft improvement plans. President Bush signed the bill without comment after unanimous approval in Congress.

“Congress has acted to improve the FOIA for the first time in more than a decade, since the electronic FOIA amendments of 1996, but Congressional and public oversight will be essential for the law’s success,” Blanton noted. “Our Knight Open Government Survey in 2007 found that only one in five federal agencies fully complied with the 1996 law, even after 10 years of implementation.”

[William Kelly]

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/09/Worldand...old_for_l.shtml

Bill is on hold for look at slayings in civil rights era

Associated Press

Published December 9, 2007

WASHINGTON - Legislation to beef up investigations into unsolved murders from the civil rights era looked like it would breeze through Congress.

The House passed it 422-2 last summer. Its Senate sponsors included some of the most senior Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill.

But the bill has stalled since the House vote in June. Its supporters acknowledge that prospects are slim this year with just days left on the legislative calendar. The breakdown offers a case study in how even the most popular legislation can get caught up in Washington gridlock.

"The bill should have passed a long time ago," said Rita Bender, widow of Michael Schwerner, who was killed in Mississippi in 1964 along with fellow civil rights organizers Andrew Goodman and James Chaney. "Every indication is that if it were brought to the floor and voted on there would be enough votes to pass it."

The bill is named after Emmett Till, a black teenager who was murdered in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of whistling at a white woman. His killers were never convicted.

The legislation would authorize $10-million annually over 10 years for the Justice Department to rejuvenate its prosecutions of pre-1970 civil rights murders. It calls for another $3.5-million annually for Justice to provide grants and other help to local law enforcement agencies.

The man most responsible for obstructing the measure is Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican. Coburn says he supports the cause but feels the FBI can pursue the cases with existing resources.

A spending hawk, Coburn has put a hold on the legislation and dozens of other bills that would increase the federal budget without offsetting costs elsewhere.

"It's absolutely outrageous that one senator and one senator only appears to be blocking us from passing this piece of legislation," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Of course, Coburn alone can't stop the bill. He can only hold it up by forcing time-consuming debate and registering his opposition.

If the measure is so important, he asks, why not bring it to the floor?

So far, Senate leaders have declined to do that. The process could eat up several days and require a series of votes on procedural motions. It also could open the measure to amendments that could weaken the bill.

Senate Democrats say Coburn is blocking about 90 bills, and working around him on all of them would take months - leaving little room for other work.

Coburn's spokesman, John Hart, acknowledged that Coburn would try to amend the Emmett Till bill by cutting its cost. But if his efforts failed, Hart said, Coburn would simply vote against the bill and let it go.

Hart said no one - including the bill's Senate sponsor, Chris Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who is running for president - has personally approached Coburn about a compromise for floor debate.

"It doesn't make sense for the majority leader to blame a freshman Republican for scheduling problems," Hart said. "(Coburn's) intent is not to tie up the Senate for days on this."

Cold cases

Prosecutors have successfully reopened several civil rights murders in recent years, but dozens of unsolved cases remain, according to the FBI and the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala.

The cases include:

1946: The lynching of two black couples on Moore's Ford Bridge near Monroe, Ga.

1946: The murder of Maceo Snipes, a black World War II veteran who was shot in the back by four white men in front of his family's home in Georgia, a day after he voted for the first time.

1964: The death of Hubert Orsby, whose body was found in the Big Black River near Pickens, Miss. He wore a shirt printed with "CORE," the acronym for the Congress of Racial Equality.

1965: The shooting death of O'Neal Moore, one of two black sheriff's deputies hired in Washington Parish in southern Louisiana.

[John Dolva]

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/12/09/Worldand...old_for_l.shtml

Bill is on hold for look at slayings in civil rights era

Associated Press

Published December 9, 2007

WASHINGTON - Legislation to beef up investigations into unsolved murders from the civil rights era looked like it would breeze through Congress.

The House passed it 422-2 last summer. Its Senate sponsors included some of the most senior Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill.

But the bill has stalled since the House vote in June. Its supporters acknowledge that prospects are slim this year with just days left on the legislative calendar. The breakdown offers a case study in how even the most popular legislation can get caught up in Washington gridlock.

"The bill should have passed a long time ago," said Rita Bender, widow of Michael Schwerner, who was killed in Mississippi in 1964 along with fellow civil rights organizers Andrew Goodman and James Chaney. "Every indication is that if it were brought to the floor and voted on there would be enough votes to pass it."

The bill is named after Emmett Till, a black teenager who was murdered in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of whistling at a white woman. His killers were never convicted.

The legislation would authorize $10-million annually over 10 years for the Justice Department to rejuvenate its prosecutions of pre-1970 civil rights murders. It calls for another $3.5-million annually for Justice to provide grants and other help to local law enforcement agencies.

The man most responsible for obstructing the measure is Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican. Coburn says he supports the cause but feels the FBI can pursue the cases with existing resources.

A spending hawk, Coburn has put a hold on the legislation and dozens of other bills that would increase the federal budget without offsetting costs elsewhere.

"It's absolutely outrageous that one senator and one senator only appears to be blocking us from passing this piece of legislation," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Of course, Coburn alone can't stop the bill. He can only hold it up by forcing time-consuming debate and registering his opposition.

If the measure is so important, he asks, why not bring it to the floor?

So far, Senate leaders have declined to do that. The process could eat up several days and require a series of votes on procedural motions. It also could open the measure to amendments that could weaken the bill.

Senate Democrats say Coburn is blocking about 90 bills, and working around him on all of them would take months - leaving little room for other work.

Coburn's spokesman, John Hart, acknowledged that Coburn would try to amend the Emmett Till bill by cutting its cost. But if his efforts failed, Hart said, Coburn would simply vote against the bill and let it go.

Hart said no one - including the bill's Senate sponsor, Chris Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who is running for president - has personally approached Coburn about a compromise for floor debate.

"It doesn't make sense for the majority leader to blame a freshman Republican for scheduling problems," Hart said. "(Coburn's) intent is not to tie up the Senate for days on this."

Cold cases

Prosecutors have successfully reopened several civil rights murders in recent years, but dozens of unsolved cases remain, according to the FBI and the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala.

The cases include:

1946: The lynching of two black couples on Moore's Ford Bridge near Monroe, Ga.

1946: The murder of Maceo Snipes, a black World War II veteran who was shot in the back by four white men in front of his family's home in Georgia, a day after he voted for the first time.

1964: The death of Hubert Orsby, whose body was found in the Big Black River near Pickens, Miss. He wore a shirt printed with "CORE," the acronym for the Congress of Racial Equality.

1965: The shooting death of O'Neal Moore, one of two black sheriff's deputies hired in Washington Parish in southern Louisiana.

Thank you, William, Unfortunate yet interesting.

Some q's / thoughts come to mind.

~ how did this "bean counter" vote re. the trillion dollar war efforts?

~ coming from Oklahoma:

> Gen. Walkers Lawyer, Gen. Watts lived there. The investigators sent by him to investigate on Walkers behalf the alleged Walker shooting, came from there.

> Harry D. Holmes came from there. Went to Kansas, Kansas City MO. (a Harry D Holmes a few years age difference, in Kansas, first decade 1900, as a boy shot a younger boy from the rear in the head with a shotgun. Verdict accident, no witnesses.

Possible connections to President Truman (KKK member) famly through marriage, Harry's origins shrouded in non-investigation. Left Oklahoma during the 'exodus' and later went to the heart of the Confederacy, Texas, Dallas, in 1948.

~ Zangetti, talking of Kennedy murder, found shot dead in Oklahoma Lake.

~ Various investigations emanating from Oklahoma City re bullets.

~ Other matters?

All up : Does this "bean counters" political sponsors have interests in not having Civil Rights hate crimes (ie JFK, MLK, RFK assassinations and other killings) investigated?

[William Kelly]

The Waxman Committee, which is responsible for oversight of the laws regarding the National Archives and Recrords Administration (NARA) and the JFK Act, but has yet to hold hearings on the matter, most recently held public hearings on the abuse of steriods and other enhancement performing drugs by professional baseball players.

When former major leaguer Roger Clemmons testified, the Waxman Committee got center ring attention at the DC circus, and failed missierably.

If anyone actually saw the performance on CSPAN live, they got a front seat view of this committee of clowns who are responsible for the creation of the laws that we live under in the USA.

When Rep. Clay, who is the chair of the subcommitte responsible for the NARA, got a chance to question Clemmons, he asked what team uniform he will wear when indicted, err inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. What a joke.

The Baseball Hall of Fame is in Cooperstown, New York, out of the way nowheresville because the federally appointed Doubleday Commission wrongfully and knowlingly wrongfully determined that the game of baseball was inveted by Abner Doubleday at Cooperstown, New York when it was demonstrated to have been played earlier by others, but it doesn't matter, as it set the template for all such commissions to come.

It's just a shame that we are depending on these same guys to properly oversee the JFK Act, the abuses at Walter Reed, Guanatmano, the FOIA Act and other, more imortant issues.

BK

http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs...0392/-1/archive

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/...or_golden_d.php

Here's a spoof on the committee -

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/...o__Bambino.html

Edited February 18, 2008 by William Kelly

[William Kelly]

C-SPAN is currently running the hearings that were held on White House E-Mail Archives and the NARA, which gives you some interesting character profiles of chairman Waxman, and subcommitee chairman William Lacy Clay, as well as Allen Weinstein, Archivist of US and NARA administrators.

BK

http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1763[/u]

xxxx

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/sports/b.../15clemens.html

xxxxx

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/waxmans-...ment/1893335528

Edited February 27, 2008 by William Kelly

[William Kelly]

C-SPAN is currently running the hearings that were held on White House E-Mail Archives and the NARA, which gives you some interesting character profiles of chairman Waxman, and subcommitee chairman William Lacy Clay, as well as Allen Weinstein, Archivist of US and NARA administrators.

There's also sub committee member Eleanor Holes Norton, who represents DC and can't vote, but can ask questions.

Clay is outspoken in critique of Bush administration attempts to keep White House emails out of Archives, echoing John Judge and Craig Wakins in saying that these records don't belong to Bush but to the American people.

Other than Weinstein, a humble, softspoken, meek person, who says that his main task is the preservation of the Archives as an institution, the others were sent in to testify without knowing anything.

These are pretty much the same people who should eventually hold the hearings on the JFK Act, so these hearings give you an idea of what the players are like.

Rep. John Sarbanes, D. Maryland is another inquisitor.

Theresa Payton, know knothing Babe White House Chief Info Officer.

BK

http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1763[/u]

xxxx

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/sports/b.../15clemens.html

xxxxx

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/waxmans-...ment/1893335528

[Tim Gratz]

Well of course the (alleged) use of steroids is a far more important issue than determining why the Secret Service destroyed possible assassination-related records while the ARRB was functioning.

But is the failure ours (I mean those who are not "cognitively impaired" (LOL) for not getting the message out to the public?

I want to take a minute to applaud the efforts of Mr. Jesus in getting all the important clips to You Tube. One would hope they might have some impact.