Keep the light on

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, over the protests of President Bush, very smartly wrote the Open Government Act last year to place the compliance officer in the office of the National Archives, an independent organization that is dedicated to historical records, not presidents. Bush, whose term in office has become known as one of the most secretive in our nation's history, reluctantly allowed the measure to become law

He didn't take long to retaliate, however.

One of the Open Government Act's features is the creation of an ombudsman, a judge who would monitor federal compliance with open records laws, and resolve any disputes that arise from public requests for information from all federal agencies. That ombudsman was placed in the National Archives Office, which reviews and preserves all federal information, independently of any other federal agency.

Bush, however, plans to transfer the ombudsman's office from the archives to the Department of Justice. Given this president's manipulation of Justice, beginning with appointing attorneys general who place the president's interests above the country's, this transfer is a bad idea.

Cornyn, long a promoter of transparency in government who with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has just filed another bill that would require lawmakers to state their motives for exempting any information from open records laws, says he will fight Bush's change, and he is right to do so.

The Bush administration has become the best evidence ever to support the need for the checks and balances that our Founding Fathers so prudently designed into our government. Bush and his henchmen have frequently imposed their will on various departments and agencies.

Nowhere has that been more evident than in the Justice Department, where his attorneys general have been little more than lapdogs who appeared to spend more time looking for ways to defend Bush's orders than to advise him on their legality. Any agency that is so quick to capitulate to the boss can hardly be trusted to be objective, much less fair, on open records requests, especially when it's the administration itself that is to unwilling to release information that hasn't been shown to have any compelling need to be kept secret.

To have any validity and value, any ombudsman must have the authority and strength to impose sanctions against defiant agencies. That can only happen if the official is independent, free from any orders or pressures from the White House or any agency that could face public requests for information.

Sen. Cornyn deserves praise for a well-thought-out measure, and he needs support in establishing an office that can objectively rule on requests for government records and other open-government matters.