WHAT IS THE TAXPAYER ASSETS PROJECT? FEBRUARY 22, 1992 The Taxpayer Assets Project (TAP) was started by Ralph Nader in 1989 to monitor the management and sale of government owned property. The group has an extremely broad mission. Over the past two years TAP has been involved in research and analysis of government policies relating to the management of federal timber, oil, natural gas, and hard rocking mining resources, as well as government information, federally funded research and development, and government rights to commercial fishing and broadcast frequencies. Since most readers of this post are interested in our activities on government information resources, I will provide a few additional details on our activities in this area. GOVERNMENT INFORMATION RESOURCES Our work on the management of government information resources has been extensive, and involves many case studies of privatization efforts. A number of examples are discussed in our TAP Working Papers (Number 3,4 and 5, see below). The GPO WINDO (HR 2772) and the Owens Bill (HR 3459) are two measures we support to return public control to valuable federal information resources. (Further information about both bills is available by email.) There are also important federal information components for many of our other projects. To mention just a few: We are critical of Department of Interior policies which restrict access to information from oil and gas wells drilled on federal lands. (The failure to disclose the information lessens competition in lease sales on adjacent properties). We have been critical of the Public Health Service's practice of using Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) to give free monopolies on government funded medical research to drug companies. (The Bristol- Myers Squibb/NCI CRADA on taxol research is one example). We have proposed requiring detailed financial disclosures for firms selling pharmaceutical drugs that received monopoly marketing rights as a result of Orphan Drug protections or exclusive rights to government funded inventions. We are interested in the collection _and_ the dissemination of government information. We are interested in the management of federal information resources both because information is a valuable taxpayer asset, and because we need access to information for our own research. We have worked to open public access to government databases and information systems that we want to use ourselves. The Taxpayer Assets Project believes the public should have online access (including Internet access), to government funded information systems such as the SEC's EDGAR system, the Patent and Trademark Office's Automated Patent System, the Department of Justice's JURIS system, the House of Representative's LEGIS system, and the Library of Congress Scorpio system, to mention only a few. We also want the government to develop new information products and services, such as an online Federal Register and Congressional Record. We think access to information is essential for exercising political power. Federal information resources should be available to all citizens for no more than the cost of disseminating the information. TAP is part of the Center for Study of Responsive Law (CSRL), which was founded by Ralph Nader in 1968. Ralph has been quite active in our entire agenda, including the government information projects. His interest in the government information agenda dates back to his high school days when Senator Bush from Connecticut arranged for Ralph to receive a free subscription to the Congressional Record. Ralph was instrumental in the passage of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and he has maintained a keen interest in government publishing efforts. Ralph has often been a critic of GPO and NTIS policies. For example, in 1979 the CSRL published a report on the Government Printing Office. Over the past few years Ralph has made many speeches about the privatization of public records, and he has been a vigorous supporter of programs to provide online access to public information. The Taxpayer Assets Project publishes occasional _Working Papers_ on public policy issues. These are available, normally for $5 (you can negotiate lower prices for multiple copies or even free distribution) from Daniel Newman in our Washington office. (202- 234-5176, internet: 508-0621@mcimail, P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036.) They include: Working Paper NO. Title 1. A Primer on Mining Law Reform, by Jonathan G. Dushoff, February 1991. 2. Private Profit from Public Lands: The Case of Hardrock Mining, by Jonathan G. Dushoff, August 1991. 3. Correspondence on the Paperwork Reduction Act: 1990, edited by James Love, March 1991. 4. Government Information as a Public Asset: testimony before the Joint Committee on Printing, U.S. Congress, by James Love, April, 1991. 5. The Government Printing Office Sales Program: Testimony before the Subcommittee on Procurement and Printing of the Committee on House Administration, U.S. House of Representatives, by Ralph Nader and James Love, July 1990. 6. The Orphan Drug Act and Government Sponsored Monopolies for Marketing Pharmaceutical Drugs: Comments submitted to the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Monopolies, and Business Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate, by James Love, January 1992. -------------------------------------------------------------- James Love, Director VOICE: 609-683-0534 Taxpayer Assets Project FAX: 202-234-5176 7-Z Magie, Faculty Road bitnet: Love@pucc.bitnet Princeton, NJ 08540 internet: Love@pucc.princeton.edu =================================================================== .