Agencies told to open books

March 20, 2009 at 2:38AM

The Obama administration advised federal agencies Thursday to release their records to the public unless foreseeable harm would result. Attorney General Eric Holder issued guidelines fleshing out President Obama's Jan. 21 order to reveal more government records to the public under the Freedom of Information Act. It essentially returned to rules during the Clinton administration and replaced a policy imposed by the George W. Bush administration under which the Justice Department defended any sound legal argument for withholding records.

SENATE ADDS TO WILDERNESS

The Senate has passed a long-delayed bill to set aside more than 2 million acres in nine states as protected wilderness, from a California mountain range to a forest in Virginia. The 77-20 vote sent the bill to the House, where final approval could come as early as next week. The Senate first approved the measure in January, but the House rejected it last week amid a partisan dispute over gun rights. The gun issue was not raised during Senate debate. The bill would confer the government's highest level of protection on land ranging from California's Sierra Nevada mountain range to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and parts of the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia.

EARNING MILLIONS IN ROYALTIES

Nice work if you can get it. President Obama's lawyer has filed disclosure forms with the secretary of the Senate for the president's final year as a U.S. senator showing that, as he spent 2008 campaigning for his new job, he also earned nearly $2.5 million in royalties from the sale of his books. And he added $250,000 more just before taking office, signing a Jan. 15 licensing deal with his publisher for an abridged version of "Dreams From My Father" that's "suitable for middle grade or young adult readers." The sum was an advance against royalties -- and with Obama's track record of moving books, it's a safe bet he'll earn even more. (He's earned $8,605,429, and counting for his books.) Obama has written two best-selling books, "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance," published in 1995, and "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream," published in 2006.

A CHANCE TO CONFER

The Obama administration has accepted an invitation to attend a Russian-led conference on Afghanistan next week at which Iran is also expected to participate. The State Department said that it would send a senior diplomat to a special conference of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization being held in Moscow on March 27 to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization includes Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan as members. Along with Iran, India, Mongolia and Pakistan are observers. The group has traditionally been used by Russia and China to limit Western influence in energy-rich Central Asia.

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