MORE BUSH SECRECY
Robert Longley reports,
"A bill now before the Senate would create a
new executive branch agency that would become the first-ever government agency granted total immunity from disclosure of information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
"The bill S. 1873, the Biodefense and Pandemic Vaccine and Drug Development Act of 2005, would create a new Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency (BARDA). Under the bill cosponsored by Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TENN), BARDA would be assigned to assist and encourage private industry in developing medical countermeasures for bioterrorism agents and natural outbreaks such as a possible avian flu pandemic...
"S. 1873's clause grant
BARDA a total categorical exemption from the requirements of FOIA:
"(2) FOIA -- Information that relates to the activities, working groups, and advisory boards of the BARDA shall not be subject to disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United States Code [Freedom of Information Act], unless the Secretary or Director determines that such disclosure would pose no threat to national security. Such a determination shall not be subject to judicial review," the bill states.
"While FOIA already exempts certain categories of information from disclosure, like properly classified information that could compromise national security, S. 1873 goes well above-and-beyond those exemptions by stating that a decision by BARDA to withhold information could not even be overturned by the courts." [End of Longley excerpt.]
I think the agenda behind all this is to keep secret any and all no-bid contracts to vaccine makers, all reports of deaths from forced vaccinations, and any and all plans for martial law under the pretext of a pandemic.
