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LEAD-IN BY HOST DAVID STILES: The United States Senate has reached a compromise regarding a Freedom of Information Act exemption in the Homeland Security Act. The legislation setting up a new government department that is second-in-size only to the Department of Defense will receive a vote before the November elections. With more, here's Craig Byrnes. STORY: When the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Homeland Security Act to the Senate it included a controversial exemption to the Freedom of Information Act, commonly referred to as FOIA. The plan as passed is extremely vague. The plan, as proposed by President Bush, provides civil immunity for corporations or individuals submitting information voluntarily as well as pre-empting state and local statutes. The broad exemption then makes the release of this information a criminal action punishable by law. Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the White House explains the President's proposal. "The presidents proposal requests a very narrow exemption from the Freedom of Information Act so that private companies may provide the new department with critical infrastructure information that is not available to the general public so that it is not available to terrorists. We believe information regarding our critical infrastructure whether it's the power grid or chemical plants should not be made available to those who wish to cause us harm. And that is why we have requested a very narrow exemption to the Freedom of Information Act for the new department." A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky from Ill. explains the democratic Congresswoman's opposition to the bill. Nadeem Ashami: "FOIA was carefully crafted to balance the ability of citizens to access information with the need to protect sensitive information from disclosure. Corporations would use the new broad secrecy provision in the bill that exempts them from FOIA to escape liability and hide information critical to protecting public safety. This is one of the major reasons the Congresswoman opposed the legislation." The alternative Homeland Security act [now under consideration in the] United States Senate provides a compromised version of an exemption from the Freedom of Information Act. The exemptions only apply to records pertaining to "the vulnerability of or threats to critical infrastructure," as well as attacks, responses and recovery. Under the bill, those who leak information would not be prosecuted, and would not have civil immunity. Leslie Phillips, a spokesman for Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman from Conneticut: "It's a good reasonable compromise that makes everybody happy on both sides of the isle." But opponents to the exemption say the current Freedom of Information Act provides for exemption without having to add one of a broad nature. They contend the information may be of importance. Sean Moulton from OMB Watch, a group that monitors the government Office of Management and Budget Issues, explains: "This information is not useless information that we're talking about. We're talking about information that could potentially save lives by being out there." The exemptions' intended purpose is to spur information sharing from corporations who fear retaliation. Local Democratic Congressman Ken Bentsen weighs in on this exemption. "In the past, Congress has provided such exemptions for national security reasons for business reasons and alike. Both the House and Senate bills provide an exemption, however I think the house bill goes a little too far in granting a blanket exemption to this new department. And I think we need to be very careful to ensure that whatever exemption there is, is carefully refined to ensure that we don't create a new standard that shields information from the public that they have every right to know." As the act inches toward a vote local representatives say the bi-partisan compromise helps to assure the president his plan will reach its goal. Craig Byrnes, KPFT News, Houston E-mail Craig Byrnes at craig_uh@yahoo.com . This story was broadcast on September 27, 2002.