For
Immediate Release:
July 3, 2007
Groups
Urge Senate to Enact FOIA Reform on the Law's 41st Birthday
For
more information contact:
Meredith Fuchs: 202/994-7000
Washington
DC, July 3, 2007 - As the 41st birthday
of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) approaches, a coalition
of groups urged the U.S. Congress to pass a bill - currently
locked behind a closed door - that would reform the FOIA and
make it work better for the public. The OPEN Government Act
(S. 849) would enact common-sense reforms to the FOIA and put
in place incentives for federal agencies to process FOIA requests
from the public in a timely manner.
When President Lyndon Johnson signed the landmark law on July
4, 1966, he declared: "A democracy works best when the
people have all the information that the security of the nation
will permit." Indeed, when members of the public have diligently
pursued information under the FOIA, they have identified government
waste and mismanagement and exposed significant
controversies about government programs.
Our government is not at its best, however, when it takes up
to 20
years for a FOIA request to be processed, agencies routinely
lose FOIA requests because they have no tracking system and
the government leads requesters into litigation only to release
requested documents on the eve of a judicial decision, as several
studies have demonstrated.
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas)
proposed the OPEN Government
Act of 2007 (S. 849). The bill aims to solve some of the
FOIA's persistent problems by:
- Creating a tracking system for FOIA requests so they are
not lost, forgotten and ignored;
- Clarifying the time limits for agency responses;
- Authorizing the recovery of reasonable attorneys fees for
requesters who prevail in FOIA litigation, including when
a government agency releases records in response to a lawsuit
before a judge rules on the case;
- Requiring reports to Congress on how agencies handle FOIA
requests; and
- Creating a FOIA ombudsman to help resolve disputes between
members of the public and agencies without litigation.
The bill has strong bipartisan support. The United States
House of Representatives passed a similar bill by an overwhelming
majority vote (308-117) in March 2007, which included 80 Republican
members of Congress.
The concerns raised by some federal agencies have been addressed
by the managers' amendment SA
1147 and lack merit. And a new suggestion -- that attorneys
fees be permitted only when the person making the FOIA request
can prove that the government acted in bad faith -- would actually
weaken FOIA, making it virtually impossible for FOIA requesters
to obtain records under the FOIA. In contrast, the attorneys
fees provision currently in the bill, which would restore the
ability of FOIA requesters to receive attorneys fees when their
cases cause an agency to release records before the court makes
a decision, would strengthen FOIA and the democratic principles
it promotes.
The OPEN Government Act of 2007 is supported by a wide range
of organizations and individuals across the ideological, political,
and economic spectrum [links to each letter]:
- The United States
Chamber of Commerce;
- The National Association
of Manufacturers;
- More than
100 public interest organizations, historical groups and
associations, including: the American Library Association,
the Natural Resources Defense Council, the National Taxpayers
Union and the Liberty Coalition;
- The Sunshine in
Government Initiative, a coalition comprised of the American
Society of Newspaper Editors, the Associated Press, the Association
of Alternative Newsweeklies, the Coalition of Journalists
for Open Government, the National Association of Broadcasters,
the National Newspapers Association, the Newspaper Association
of America, the Radio-Television News Directors Association,
the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the
Society of Professional Journalists;
- Public
Citizen;
- The American
Civil Liberties Union;
- The National
Security Archive;
- 10 members of the
Arizona State Senate;
- The Open Society
Policy Center;
- David Keene,
Chairman, American Conservative Union;
- John W.
Whitehead, President, The Rutherford Institute;
- Thomas R.
Pickering, former Undersecretary of State for Political
Affairs and United States Ambassador to the United Nations;
- Bob Barr, former
member of Congress;
- Veterans for Common
Sense;
- The Andrew Jackson
Society;
- Americans for
Tax Reform; and others.
In addition, editorial
and op-ed pages in newspapers across the country have reflected
strong public support for the reforms.
The undersigned groups called upon the Senate to permit this
good government measure to be brought to the floor for a debate
and vote, and not to allow it to be brought down by legislative
tactics and poison pill amendments.
###
Organizations Issuing the Release:
American Association of Law Libraries
American Civil Liberties Union
American Library Association
Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
Cyber Privacy Project
Doctors for Open Government (DFOG)
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Ethics in Government Group
Georgians for Open Government
Liberty Coalition
National Coalition for History
National Freedom of Information Center
National Security Archive
National Taxpayers Union
National Whistleblower Center
Natural Solutions Foundation
OMB Watch
OpenTheGovernment.org
Pain Relief Network
Public Citizen
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Republican Liberty Caucus
Semmelweis Society International (SSI)
Student Health Integrity Project (SHIP)
The New Grady Coalition
The Pullins Report
The Rutherford Institute
United States Chamber of Commerce
US Bill of Rights Foundation
VA Whistleblowers Coalition