Secrecy Ruling on Task Force Appealed

The Clinton Administration on Monday appealed a federal judge’s ruling that certain meetings of the White House Task Force on National Health Care Reform chaired by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton must be open to the public.

In papers filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the Administration argued that District Judge Royce C. Lamberth erred in ruling that Mrs. Clinton is a private citizen. The Administration argued that Mrs. Clinton’s role “is that of a public servant, the functional equivalent of an officer or employee.”

The advisory committee law requires that panels with members who are not government officials or federal employees must open their meetings to the public. Lamberth, however, ruled that only those meetings where information is gathered must be open.

President Clinton appointed the task force to develop a proposal to be submitted to Congress for overhauling the nation’s health care system to assure that more people are covered.