Good for all people
It was almost 160 years when President Lincoln said, "Government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the Earth." For that to be true, our governments must have no closed doors with respect to information about its actions, as well as those of government officials. A strong Freedom of Information Act helps to assure that is true.
Should anyone wish to dampen the reach of our Freedom of Information Act, one must ask how and why it would be good for "all the people" rather than for a few we have elected to represent us.
PHILLIP TAYLOR
Fayetteville
FOI's cleansing power
After three decades as a citizen legislator ($16,000 a year), Pine Bluff alderman and a full-time bureaucrat, I go on record in opposition to any changes to our Freedom of Information Act. The public has the right to know what their government is doing on their behalf.
As chairman of the Health, Labor and Welfare Committees in the House and the Senate, it may have "cramped my style," but the absence of sunshine for the media would victimize the public. I cannot remember a committee meeting without the press. As a public servant I was always mindful of the public's right to know, and the FOI was a safeguard of which I was aware.
Government is not a private business; it should be open to its people. I assure you the FOI Act has a cleansing effect.
JAY BRADFORD
Hot Springs