Two interest groups, the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and OMB Watch, announced Monday that they were were launching an effort to find out what the ten most wanted government documents are, and promised to push to have those items posted on the Internet.
CDT Policy Analyst Ari Schwartz said the campaign stems from several recent efforts to restrict access to government information. For example, he pointed to moves by some members of Congress to keep information about "worst-case scenarios" at chemical plants from being posted on the Internet. The two groups also pointed to Congress' failure to provide easy public access to reports by the Congressional Research Service, which provides lawmakers with thorough, non-partisan analysis of public policy issues.
Among the other items Schwartz said his group would like to see disseminated more widely is judicial information. He said while some federal courts have established Web sites and post information in a timely manner, others do not.
Schwartz said the Internet is an ideal way to disseminate government information and should be better utilized.
As part of the campaign, the two groups are posting "Wanted" messages on Internet mailing lists and Web sites looking for suggestions, which they will collect until Aug. 1, on what documents should be made available on the Internet but currently are not.
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