The Coalition of Journalists for Open Government has drafted a letter to the U.S. Senate in opposition to a bill that would significantly hamper the ability of the public, the press and even Congress to oversee efforts to protect the population against bioterrorism and pandemic outbreaks.
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions has already passed S 1873, the Biodefense and Pandemic Vaccine and Drug Development Act of 2005. The bill would create a new Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency (BARDA) within the Department of Health and Human Services. However, this agency would be excluded from the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act, the Federal Advisory Committee Act and large portions of federal acquisition regulations.
Under this act, records of this agency or meetings of any advisory committees created to further its work would simply not exist.
As the American Society of Newspapers Editors puts it, under these unnecessary and overbroad secrecy provisions, the public would be prevented from participating in its own defense against bioterrorism and pandemic such as the Avian Flu.
The legislation has received significant criticism by those few people and organizations who are aware of its existence, with the secrecy provisions opposed even by those who advocate for the creation of the agency itself. However, the legislation could come to a floor vote in the Senate at any time.
Clearly, rapid research and vaccines for bioterrorism and pandemics need to progress as quickly as possible to protect the America public. S. 1873 takes a step in that direction; however, excluding an entire agency from FOIA will reduce the ability of the public and Congress to hold the new agency accountable and to ensure that important health information reaches the public.
The Freedom of Information Act already exempts from public release information that would threaten national security. A sweeping exclusion for BARDA is not needed for this purpose.
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