LIEBERMAN
SAYS E-GOV BILL SERVES HOMELAND SECURITY
Important New Privacy Protections Enacted
President Holds White House Signing Ceremony
December
17, 2002
WASHINGTON
- Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman
expressed pleasure
Tuesday at the signing of his Electronic Government Act,
legislation that will improve citizen access to government
information and services, the privacy of personal information
held by the government, and
the security of the government’s underlying information
infrastructure.
President
Bush signed the bill at a White House ceremony, which Lieberman
was unable to attend.
“The
president’s signing of this bill today brings the federal
government fully into the electronic age, giving taxpayers the
same round-the-clock access to government that they have come to
expect from the private sector,” Lieberman said. “And, with
its emphasis on better management of information services, this
law will significantly add to our overall homeland defenses.”
Lieberman
introduced the Electronic Government Act in May 2001, after
having received electronic comment from interested parties via a
special website established to engage the public in the
legislative process. The
bill was voted out of the Governmental Affairs Committee in
March 2002, and Lieberman shepherded it to final Senate passage
in June 2002. The
measure passed the House in November.
“The
idea behind this law is for the federal government to take full
advantage of the Internet and other information technologies to
improve its efficiency and to secure its electronic information.
We hope it will also encourage the public to participate
to a greater degree in government, with full confidence that
personal privacy and public safety will be protected.”
The
law would:
*
E*
Establish an Office of Electronic Government, headed by an
administrator within the Office of Management and Budget
*
Authorize $345 million over four years for interagency
e-government projects
*
Require privacy impact assessments for new IT systems
that contain personal information
*
Improve upon the centralized online portal so that
information and services are organized according to citizens’
needs
*
Establish an online directory of federal web sites
*
Require federal courts to post opinions online
*
Improve recruitment and training of information
technology professionals
The
bill contains a variety of other provisions that would require
agencies to establish online rule-making, encourage
compatibility of electronic signatures, and provide strong new
privacy protections. In
addition, it makes permanent information security laws initially
enacted through the Thompson-Lieberman Government Information
Security Reform Act.
|