Law would boost access to government papers

WASHINGTON — Congress on Tuesday passed legislation to toughen the Freedom of Information Act and increasing penalties on agencies that don’t comply.

The White House would not say whether President Bush will sign the legislation, which unanimously passed the House by voice vote Tuesday a few days after it sailed through the Senate. Without Bush’s signature, the bill would become law during the congressional recess that begins next week.

It would be the first makeover of the FOIA in a decade, and brings nonproprietary information held by government contractors under the law. The legislation also is aimed at reversing an order by former Attorney General John Ashcroft in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks, in which he instructed agencies to lean against releasing information when there was uncertainty about how doing so would affect national security.

The bill restores a presumption of disclosure standard committing government agencies to releasing requested information unless there is a finding that such disclosure could do harm.