Attorney General Alberto Gonzales recently announced he would reconsider the government's position on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), previously established in a controversial 2001 memo by then Attorney General John Ashcroft. The Ashcroft memo, which has been criticized by open government advocates, directed federal agency officials to presumptively withhold information requested under FOIA if they were uncertain whether the information should be released.

When a freight train accident took eight lives in South Carolina earlier this year because of unsafe and uninspected train cars carrying toxic materials, it heightened concerns about chemical security in our trains and trucks. Cities across the nation have begun addressing serious deficiencies on this homeland security issue because the federal government has done little. Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, and Baltimore are all considering legislation to mitigate the risks of shipping hazardous materials through their heavily populated centers.