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02/15/07
Government sunshine boosters want ombudsman for Freedom of
Information Act
By LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional Democrats are looking at
ways to strengthen open government laws and force the Bush
administration to release more documents under the Freedom
of Information Act.
Rep. Lacy Clay, D-Mo., said legislation he is considering
would be broader than an open government bill last year that
sought to reduce the number of disputed FOIA requests and
improve reporting requirements to Congress. The legislation
never reached a vote in the House or Senate.
Clay said the old bill will be the starting point for a new
one that will take direct aim at the administration's practice
of using the threat of terrorism to withhold "nonsensitive
information."
"I am deeply concerned that this administration appears
to be shielding information that ought to be accessible to
the public," said Clay, chairman of the House Oversight
and Government Reform Committee's subcommittee on information
policy.
The American Civil Liberties Union urged the subcommittee
on Wednesday to scrap what it said was the White House's "policy
of nondisclosure" outlined in a 2001 memo by then-Attorney
General John Ashcroft.
Ashcroft advised against releasing information when there
was uncertainty about whether FOIA exemptions applied, such
as for national security and law enforcement material. His
memo reversed a Clinton administration policy that urged agencies
to resolve FOIA requests by erring on the side of releasing,
not withholding, government information.
"To this administration, secrecy is the default response,"
ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said in written
testimony prepared for Clay's subcommittee.
Another witness, Clark Hoyt of the Sunshine in Government
Initiative, urged Congress to create an independent ombudsman
within the federal government to improve training and compliance
with the FOIA and act as a liaison for people frustrated in
their efforts to use the law to obtain records.
President Bush signed an executive order in 2005 directing
federal agencies to be more efficient in dealing with requests
for government information, but he left the Ashcroft memo
in place. The order called on agencies to take several consumer-friendly
steps, including streamlining the handling of requests under
the FOIA and appointing senior officials to monitor compliance
with the law.
Linda Koontz, director of information management for the Government
Accountability Office, said it is too soon to tell if the
flow of disclosure has improved under the new executive order.
But her agency's study of FOIA request processing trends from
2002 to 2005 found that many agencies could not keep pace
with the increase in requests they received.
Melanie Ann Pustay, acting director of the Justice Department's
Office of Information and Privacy, pointed out that agencies
face stiff challenges in fulfilling many FOIA requests because
of the sheer volume and irregularity of documents that must
be reviewed.
She also said that the Internet, among other sources, has
caused FOIA requests to balloon to "millions" every
year and that processing them costs more than $300 million
annually.
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On the Net:
Government Accountability Office report: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07491t.pdf
Sunshine in Government Initiative: http://www.sunshineingovernment.org
Justice Department: http://www.doj.gov
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