• Background: History and types of records obtainable
• Recent Developments: FOIA in the News
• Additional Information: Requesting records from the U.S. Departent of State

Background

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was passed in 1966 and enacted in 1967. After several years of congressional hearings about the need for a disclosure law, President Lyndon Johnson intimately opposed its passage. The act was amended in 2002 (Source: GWU National Security Archive).

The Department of State maintains records dealing with:

• The formulation and execution of U.S. Foreign Policy
• The administration and operations of the Department of State and
• U.S. missions abroad
• Applications from U.S. citizens for U.S. passports
• Visa requests from non-citizens to enter the U.S.
• Consular assistance given to U.S. citizens abroad
• Current and former employees of the Department

The FOIA applies only to federal agencies and does not create a right of access to records held by Congress, the courts, or by state or local government agencies. (Source: US State)

Debate

• The White House vs. The Freedom of Information Act:

  • White House lawyers argue before a federal appeals court that White House visitor logs maintained by the Secret Service are executive branch documents and thus not subject to Freedom of Information Act requests. (Source: CREW)

  • A federal judge ordered the White House's Office of Administration to produce information on an assertion that it is no longer subject to the Freedom of Information Act. In a ruling in a lawsuit filed by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington over the White House's loss of thousands of e-mails, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly asked for documentation of the administration's claim that it is subject to the Presidential Records Act and not FOIA or the Federal Act and therefore need not release records. (Source: CREW)

• Opposed by the White House (Bush Administration)

  Rep. Clay: The Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 2007

Country Comparison

• Mexico - FOI
  

  The National Security Archive's Mexico Project published a new study of Mexico's transparency law: "FOI in Practice: Measuring the Complexity of Information Requests and Quality of Government Responses in Mexico."

  The study represents the first comprehensive analysis of the Mexican freedom of information law: what information requesters have sought and how the government has responded.

  The authors analyzed the quality of government responses in relation to the complexity of FOI requests sent through Mexico's electronic information system from June 12, 2003 to April 30, 2006. After examining 1,000 information requests and corresponding government responses, the authors concluded that in 76% of the cases the government responses satisfied the requests of the user during the first three years of the law's existence. Nevertheless, the results also demonstrated that the most complex FOI requests were more difficult for public officials to answer, and received satisfactory responses in only 57% of the cases analyzed.

  The findings serve as a warning about Mexico's need to improve the capacity of government agencies to respond to more complex requests for information as requesters become increasingly sophisticated in their demands over time. (Source: National Security Archive)

Recent Developments

• Latest Major Action: 2/22/2008 Placed on the Union Calendar
  • Committees: House Foreign Affairs; House Energy and Commerce; House Judiciary
  • To promote freedom of expression on the Internet, to protect United States businesses from coercion to participate in repression by authoritarian foreign governments, and for other purposes.
• Latest Major Action: 3/19/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives.
  • Committees: House Oversight and Government Reform
  • To establish the Commission on Freedom of Information Act Processing Delays.
• Latest Major Action: 3/15/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
  • Committees: House Oversight and Government Reform; Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
  • To promote openness in Government by strengthening section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act), and for other purposes.
• Latest Major Action: 4/30/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives.
  • Committees: House Oversight and Government Reform
  • Require the disclosure of certain information related to Federal contractors, and for other purposes.
• Latest Major Action: 11/8/2007 House committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Subcommittee Hearings Held.
  • Committees: House Judiciary
  • To require prisons and other correctional facilities holding Federal prisoners under a contract with the Federal Government to make the same information available to the public that Federal prisons and correctional facilities are required to do by law.
• Latest Major Action: 3/11/2008 Failed of passage in House over veto. Status: On passage, the objections of the President to the contrary notwithstanding Failed by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 225 - 188
  • Committees: House Intelligence (Permanent Select); Senate Intelligence (Select); House Homeland Security
  • To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2008 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and for other purposes.
• Latest Major Action: 2/15/2007 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders.
  • Committees: Senate Energy and Natural Resources
  • Bill to provide for the protection of paleontological resources on Federal lands, and for other purposes.

FOIA in News:

• CREW files FOIA requests seeking information about presidential candidate's activities, 14 May 2008
• CREW files FOIA requests with the EPA regarding resignation of Mary Gade, 7 May 2008
• Amnesty International: CIA Acknowledges it has more than 7000 Documents Relating to Secret Detention Program, Rendition, and Torture, 24 Apr 2008

Additional Information

Making a Request

To make a request and for further information, consult the Department of State Information Access Guide/Manual.