POGO & Others Urge Public Access to Katrina Contracting Information

President George W. Bush

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Bush:

Congress has put $62.3 billion into Hurricane Katrina relief, with billions more expected in help for Gulf Coast recovery efforts. With the federal government spending so much so quickly, opportunities for waste and fraud abound. To help find and stop misuse of taxpayer dollars, Congress, reporters, and the public must be informed of how the dollars are spent. We call on President Bush to post on the Internet copies of every contract, requisition, task/delivery order, agreement or other authorization for spending on Hurricane Katrina relief and reconstruction as soon as contracts are signed, checks are approved or money is disbursed. For such spending that has already occurred, we urge you to direct agencies to put such information online as soon as possible. Posting vital spending documents online would help the government and taxpayers alike in several ways. Public disclosure will speed the government's ability to track down and stop abuses. Disclosure will inform public debate about the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. In general, public disclosure deters fraud and abuse, so taxpayer dollars may be saved before money is spent. Ultimately, making these documents available online and accessible through a single, searchable website saves taxpayer dollars, makes government work better and helps restore the public's trust in the government's ability to perform effectively. Furthermore, existing law requires the government to post online any document that can reasonably be expected to have broad public interest. The 1996 amendments to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) require government to make documents in its possession available in an electronic reading room (such as the Internet) if the government expects to receive multiple FOIA requests for the documents. The law also builds in protections for personal privacy and proprietary information. Groups across the political spectrum have raised concerns about Katrina-related contracting and millions of Americans have been directly affected by Hurricane Katrina. These documents meet this standard. In certain instances, government agencies have posted commonly requested documents, a practice which should be adopted for all Hurricane Katrina relief and reconstruction spending. Putting these documents online in an easily accessible form is easy to do. Summaries already posted by some agencies are inadequate. Only with release of copies of the documents themselves, which includes the detailed contract information, can the government be more accountable and save taxpayer dollars.

For the above reasons, we urge you to make available online in an easily accessible and searchable format all contracts and expenditures related to Hurricane Katrina, in accordance with FOIA, so our country is better able to respond to emergencies, our taxpayer dollars are spent wisely, and our government earns the trust of the people it serves. To follow up on this matter or address any questions about this letter, please contact Rick Blum or Emily Feldman of OpenTheGovernment.org at 202-234-8494 or [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Mary Alice Baish, Associate Washington Affairs Representative

American Association of Law Libraries

Andy Alexander, Chairman of the Freedom of Information Committee

American Society of Newspaper Editors

Joyce Miller, Director, Community Relations Unit

American Friends Service Committee

Lynne Bradley, Director, Office of Government Relations

American Library Association

John F. Stephens, Ph.D, Executive Director

American Studies Association

Richard Karpel, Executive Director

Association of Alternative Newsweeklies

Suki Dardarian, President

Associated Press Managing Editors

Suzanne Havala Hobbs, Board Member and Chair, FOI and Advocacy Committee

Association of Health Care Journalists

Amanda Hawes, Chair of the Toxics Committee

Cal-COSH

Peter Scheer, Executive Director

California First Amendment Coalition

Mark David Agrast, Senior Fellow

Center for American Progress

Ari Schwartz, Deputy Director

Center for Democracy and Technology

Roberta Baskin, Executive Director

Center for Public Integrity

Pete Weitzel, Coordinator

Coalition of Journalists for Open Government

Celia Viggo Wexler, Vice President for Advocacy

Common Cause

Miles Rapoport, President

Demos: A Network for Ideas and Action

Linda Lenz, President

Education Writers Association

Shari Steele, Executive Director

Electronic Frontier Foundation

David L. Sobel, General Counsel

Electronic Privacy Information Center

Carol Andress, Economic Specialist

Environmental Defense

Judith Robinson, Director of Special Projects

Environmental Health Fund

Steven Aftergood, Project Director

Federation of American Scientists

Conrad Martin, Executive Director

Fund for Constitutional Government

Tom Devine, Legal Director

Government Accountability Project

Howard Pellett, Administrative Coordinator

The Green Party of Skagit County, Anacortes, Washington

Scott Armstrong, Executive Director

The Information Trust

Kay J. Maxwell, President

League of Women Voters of the United States

Michael D. Ostrolenk, Founder/National Director

Liberty Coalition

Renette Dejoie Hall, Executive Editor

Louisiana Weekly Publishing Co. Inc

Steve Bagwell, Managing Editor

McMinnville News-Register, McMinnville, Oregon

R. Bruce Craig, Executive Director

National Coalition for History

Charles N. Davis, Ph.D, Executive Director

National Freedom of Information Coalition

Gai Oglesbee, Domain Manager

National Nuclear Victims for Justice

Thomas S. Blanton, Director

National Security Archive

Sibel D. Edmonds, Director

National Security Whistleblowers Coalition

Paul Gessing, Director of Government Affairs

National Taxpayers Union

Bob Johnson, Executive Director

New Mexico Foundation for Open Government

Kathy Spurlock, Executive Editor

The News-Star, Monroe, LA

Bob Giles, Curator

Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University

Kristin Rothwell, Associate Editor

NurseZone.com

Gary Bass, Executive Director

OMB Watch

Rick Blum, Director

OpenTheGovernment.org

Elliot Mincberg, Legal Director

People for the American Way

Danielle Brian, Executive Director

Project On Government Oversight

Michael F. Hollander, Editor

Racing Information Systems

Lucy Dalglish, Executive Director

Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Scott Burger, Acting Chair

Richmond Greens/Green Party, Richmond, Virginia

Alan English, Executive Editor

The Shreveport Times, Shreveport, Louisiana

Society of Environmental Journalists

David Carlson, President

Society of Professional Journalists

Cammie Donaldson, President

Space Coast Progressive Alliance

Steve Ellis, Vice President of Programs

Taxpayers for Common Sense

Dane vonBreichenruchardt, President

US Bill of Rights Foundation

Mark Tapscott, DirectorCenter for Media and Public Policy,

The Heritage Foundation*

Robert J. Freeman, Director

NYS Committee on Open Government*

April D. Gallop, President and CEO

9-11 Elisha Zion Foundation*

Richard A. Knee, Freelance journalist*

*Signing as individuals. Title is for identification purposes only.

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Follow the link to view a group press release on the sign on letter.