The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced its proposed rule for the handling of Critical Infrastructure Information (CII). The rule is required by the CII provision in the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and the development of the legislation was very controversial. The legislation allows corporations that voluntarily submit information on infrastructure vulnerabilities secrecy, civil immunity, preemption of state and local disclosure laws, and protection from whistleblowers.

The Pentagon has spent almost all of the $28.5 billion in “emergency-response” funds allocated to them by Congress in the year after the September 11th attacks. However, almost nothing is available to the public explaining how the taxpayer’s money was spent. Apparently, even confidential reports to congressional staff leave too many questions about the expenditures unanswered.

Last week the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed its rule for handling Critical Infrastructure Information (CII). While it was encouraging that DHS is engaging in an open rulemaking process, complete with a public comment period, the content of the proposed rule was troubling. The CII provisions of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 were already widely criticized, resulting in proposed legislation to fix the provisions.

Montana Governor Judy Martz (R) and leading state lawmakers recently abandoned a state bill which would have given the government authority to withhold any information from the pubic that it deemed “sensitive.” State Senator Walt McNutt (R-Sidney) stated that Senate Bill 142, which was crafted in order to protect public works from terrorist attacks, is being dropped because the legislation would have created an atmosphere of too much secrecy. The Senator explained that the legislation would have made it possible for agencies to abuse their privilege and withhold a great deal of information.