Media

WASHINGTON — Congressman Gary Palmer heard testimony Tuesday from investigative journalists, including former CBS journalist Sharyl Attkisson, on the importance of protecting the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in order to hold the federal government accountable.

Disregarding a veto threat from President Barack Obama, the U.S. House of Representatives reauthorized the four-decade-old Magnuson-Stevens Act, the nation's primary fishing law, on Monday, which sets the policy for fisheries all across the United States.

Ignoring a veto threat from the Obama administration, the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday passed a bill that, among other things, changes the way the government regulates red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico.

The largely party-line 225-152 vote reauthorizes the so-called Magnuson-Stevens Conservation and Management Act, which governs fisheries management off the U.S. coast. The bill, which provides a little less than $2 billion through 2019, now goes to the Senate.