Announced Action for May 31, 2002

The FTC has approved the release of the Commission's Sunshine Act Report for 2001. The government's Sunshine Act (named because it is designed to shed light on federal agency operations) requires each affected agency to report annually to Congress about its compliance with the Act. Specifically, the report must contain: 1) the total number of agency meetings that were open to the public over the past year; 2) the total number of meetings closed to the public; 3) the reasons for closing such meetings; 4) a description of any litigation brought against the agency under the Act, including any costs assessed against the agency in such litigation; and 5) responses to additional questions detailed in a 1985 letter from two members of the Senate Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations.

The Commission vote to release the report to Congress was 5-0. It has been transmitted to the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House, and relevant Senate and House Subcommittee Chairmen, and will also be made part of the public record. Copies will be available soon from the FTC's Web site or by calling the Consumer Response Center, toll-free, at 1-877-382-4357. (FTC File No. P859907; staff contact is Consuella R. Goosby, Office of the General Counsel; 202-326-2486; see previous press releases dated July 14, 2000 and August 3, 2001.)

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC's Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP.