For release February
26, 2003 |
For more information, contact:
Tom Blanton 202/994-7000
Meredith Fuchs 202/994-7000 |
HOMELAND SECURITY ACCESS REGS NEED IMPROVEMENT;
ARCHIVE URGES EFFECTIVE RECORDS MANAGEMENT,
APPLAUDS SECRETARY RIDGE'S COMMITMENT TO OPENNESS
National Security Archive Files Comments on
New Department's FOIA Rules,
Suggests Eight Specific Changes and Commends Initial Progress
Washington, D.C., February 26, 2003 - The
National Security Archive today submitted comments on the new
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulations that detail
how the DHS will implement open government laws. The DHS regulations,
issued on January 27, fall short of Congress's intent in eight
specific areas, detailed in the Archive's formal comments. But
the Archive also applauded DHS Secretary Tom Ridge's agreement
to fix a freedom of information loophole included in the Homeland
Security legislation, and his forcefully-stated commitment to
transparency and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The Archive's eight specific recommendations include that:
- DHS commit to reviewing in full public comments on its FOIA
regulations and modifying the regulations to make its FOIA processing
more effective;
- DHS establish a Departmental FOIA policy development and compliance
office;
- DHS develop effective records management systems that enhance
the Department's ability to respond to FOIA requests;
- DHS incorporate FOIA's 20-day response times into its regulations;
- DHS permit administrative appeal of its failure to meet the
statutory time limits;
- DHS notify requesters of their right to seek judicial review
for its failure to meet the 20-day time limits;
- DHS handle all requests according to the date the request
initially was received by the Department;
- DHS separate and not conflate fee categorization and fee waiver
determinations.
Click here to read the full Archive
Comments on the new regulations.
The National Security Archive won the prestigious George Polk
Award in April 2000 for "piercing self-serving veils of government
secrecy." The Archive's many FOIA litigation victories include
the release of historic documentation ranging from the Kennedy-Khrushchev
letters during the Cuban missile crisis to Oliver North's diaries
during the Iran-contra scandal, and the landmark case that saved
from destruction the White House e-mail of the Reagan, Bush, and
Clinton administrations. For more information, see www.nsarchive.org.