CHICAGO The senator who will oversee the powerful Judiciary Committee as a Democratic majority takes the chamber next month says strengthening open government and citizen privacy laws will be its priority.

In a little-noticed speech last week at Georgetown University Law Center, U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) lamented the recent congressional acquiescence to the Bush administration’s secrecy, and promised to restore the constitutional balance between the executive and legislative branches of government.

“Unfortunately, open, informed government has been under assault by the first administration in modern times that is explicitly hostile to the public’s right to know,” Leahy said. “By using ideology to trump science, gagging government scientists and experts, reclassifying public documents and undermining important tools like [the Freedom Of Information Act], this government has displayed a dangerous disdain for the free press and the public.”

He said he will work to strengthen open-government laws, and to provide more congressional oversight of the White House.

Read more at Editor & Publisher

Webcast of Senator Leahy’s speech here

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