Our republic was founded on the notion that an unchecked government is a major obstacle to human freedom and to progress, and that our leaders need to be challenged, internally through the complex constitutional system of checks and balances, and externally by a free and energetic press. This is a notion I've supported throughout my adult life. As a matter of fact, as a young member of Congress back in the 1960s, still in my 30s, I was a co-sponsor of the Freedom of Information Act. Now we all recognize that that Act causes government officials occasional pain, but in my view, it has been a valuable Act in helping to get the facts to the American people…. Our great political system needs information to be self-correcting. While excesses and imbalances will inevitablyexist for a time, fortunately they tend not to last. Ultimately truth prevails.