Carter: Fewer Secrets

Former President Jimmy Carter on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA):

The events in our nation today -- war, civil rights violations, spiraling energy costs, campaign finance and lobbyist scandals -- dictate the growing need and citizens' desire for access to public documents. A poll conducted last year found that 70 percent of Americans are either somewhat or very concerned about government secrecy. This is understandable when the U.S. government uses at least 50 designations to restrict unclassified information and created 81 percent more ''secrets'' in 2005 than in 2000, according to the watchdog coalition OpenTheGovernment.org.

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