Political Quotes

“From the beginning, I have recognized that this bill would make important changes to the Freedom of Information Act. My concerns have been rooted in the possible unintended consequences this bill would have on consumer protection. I was concerned this bill would make it harder for our consumer protection agencies to bring enforcement actions against corporate wrongdoers. Specifically, I am concerned that requiring government law enforcement agencies to show foreseeable harm that is not ``speculative or abstract'' when invoking FOIA exemptions for attorney-client, work- product, and deliberative process privileges will undermine law enforcement efforts. Hundreds of years of American legal tradition has generally protected work-product documents and attorney-client communications from the discovery process in civil litigation. Further, the deliberative process privilege has allowed government agencies' law enforcers to freely exchange ideas and legal strategies as part of their internal decision making process. I am concerned that the bill could have a ``chilling effect'' on internal communications and deliberations of agencies' law enforcement personnel who are preparing law enforcement actions against alleged wrongdoers, in order to avoid the prospect of increased litigation. We do not want to hinder the robust, internal exchange of rigorous ideas and legal strategies within government agencies when they are bringing enforcement actions.…”