Our government wants us to be uninformed.

That is what our leaders in Washington appear to be telling us with a pending bill that would hide more information from the American people than ever before. If it goes through, this would be the first official secrets act in the history of the United States.This bill is being brought forth by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which presented a similar bill last year that was shut down by Bill Clinton. The difference is that George W. Bush is in charge now, and he is not expected to oppose the bill. Should it pass, it would charge any federal official who leaks classified information with a felony.

This is different from British law, which throws journalists in jail if they print classified information or government secrets. But the effect is the same, since the media cannot report on what they don?t know. In both countries, important information is not getting to citizens.

Confused? Our elected officials are supposed to act in a way that serves the American citizens? best interests. So what could possibly make it OK to make a law specifically designed to keep information from the citizens of the United States?

Usually we could count on the media, whose general duties include letting us know when the government gets out of line. But not in this case, as the media would also be kept away from “classified government information.”

The government?s reasoning for the bill is also being called classified information. They would like to go about their business without letting the country know what they are actually doing. Umm . . . I don?t think this falls under anybody?s idea of the democratic system.

But rest assured, the government has an answer for this as well. The law, if put into effect, wouldn?t change anything! This is because, according to a recent article in The New York Times, written by the Director of the National Security Archive Thomas S. Blanton, some supporters of the bill argue that people who leak government information are never caught anyway. The idea, I guess, would be to discourage future employees from speaking to the press on certain issues.

That sounds kind of funny. Using similar logic, a law that would execute all persons caught selling cocaine would also be justified, since it would deter future cocaine dealers. After all, it wouldn?t really change anything because most drug dealers aren?t caught anyway.

Another issue here is that federal employees who leak classified information are already facing very serious consequences for their actions. They can already lose their jobs and be kept from working in a similar job ever again, according to Blanton. These seem like pretty harsh punishments already being used by the government. To take the punishment as far as this new bill asks is out of bounds, and a major step in the wrong direction for the U.S. government. One that steps on the freedom of the press.

Russ Edmondson is a journalism major. He can be reached at [email protected].