Poli Alert Political & Civics
Related Articles
House Republicans on Thursday introduced a bill that would require all federal agencies to make COVID-19 data available for public review within 100 days.
The introduction follows reports that the Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency (PHMPT) is suing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for failure to produce requested documents via FOIA and asking to have until 2097 to do so.
“The American people have been misled, and information related to COVID vaccines has been hidden from the public eye or delayed in perpetuity by our public health ‘experts,’ throughout this pandemic,” Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21) said. “The FDA’s request to have until 2097 to fully release documents related to the approval of the Pfizer vaccine is absurd. The American people deserve transparent and honest information; that is why I am proud to introduce this bill to bring necessary accountability and transparency for COVID-related FOIA requests.”
“It is imperative that federal agencies follow through on any FOIA requests in a timely manner on any COVID-related issue,” said Rep. Ralph Norman (SC-05). “I am proud to work with Rep. Roy on this legislation to restore the public’s faith in our government.”
This bill would ensure expedited processing of COVID-related FOIA requests.
COVID-related FOIAs are those that relate to:
- A drug or medical device to treat, prevent, or mitigate COVID-19;
- Gain-of-function or potential pandemic pathogen (P3) research;
- A policy, rule, or standard requiring vaccination of individuals.
If agency heads fail to complete the requests within 100 days, a penalty of $1 million would be taken from the office of the head of the federal agency and transferred to the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program.
For future COVID-related requests, the bill would establish a “compelling need” to ensure that they are expedited.
Finally, the bill includes a clause to ensure that current statutory FOIA exemptions remain in place, such as proprietary or criminal investigation information.
