Study Pans Agency FOIA Actions
A decade after Congress enacted Internet age amendments to the Freedom of Information Act, only one in five federal agencies (21 percent) comply with the law, according to a new survey released during Sunshine Week by the National Security Archive. About 6 percent post all 10 elements of essential FOIA guidance; 36 percent provide the required indexes of records; and 26 percent make online forms available for FOIA requests.
In addition, the study showed that many agency Web links are missing or inaccurate (one FOIA fax number checked rang in the maternity ward of a military base hospital). "Federal agencies are flunking the online test and keeping us in the dark," said the Archive's chief Thomas Blanton. "Some government sites just link to each other in an endless empty loop."
Archive General Counsel Meredith Fuchs, AP chief Tom Curley and others will testify on the status of FOIA on Wednesday morning at the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus