Political Quotes

“Mr. President, in the coming months, the Supreme Court of the United States will consider Federal Communications Commission v. AT&T--a monumental Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, case that could vastly expand the rights of corporations to shield their activities from public view. Like many Americans who deeply value openness, transparency and accountability in our government, I urge the Court to reject efforts to broaden the personal privacy exemption to FOIA to include corporate information. A decade after Congress first enacted the Freedom of Information Act, Congress created an exemption to this law for law enforcement records that contain sensitive personal information. The so-called ``personal privacy exemption'' for law enforcement records--FOIA exemption 7(C)-- allows the government to withhold information contained in its investigatory files that ``could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.'' By creating this exemption, Congress intended to shield from public disclosure sensitive personal information about individuals who may be mentioned in government files. However, Congress never intended for this exemption to apply to corporations. The legislative history for the personal privacy exemption makes clear that Congress intended for this exemption to protect an individual's right to privacy.…”