March 17, 2010 <\/p>\n
The Honorable Patrick Leahy
Chairman
United States Senate
Judiciary Committee
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510 <\/p>\n
The Honorable John Cornyn
Ranking Member
United States Senate
Judiciary Committee
152 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510<\/p>\n
Dear Senators Leahy and Cornyn: <\/p>\n
The undersigned organizations write in support of the Faster FOIA Act<\/em>, which would establish the Commission on Freedom of Information Act Processing Delays (the Commission). This advisory commission would be charged with recommending to Congress and the President steps that should be taken to reduce delays in the administration of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). <\/p>\n In our experience, agency backlogs impose one of the greatest impediments to access under the FOIA and create a disparity across the federal government in the administration of the FOIA. Moreover, while backlogs have presented a longstanding problem in agency implementation of the FOIA, we still do not understand fully the conditions and practices that create those backlogs. Particularly in light of President Obama’s directive to agencies to reduce significant backlogs of outstanding FOIA requests, it is imperative that we identify the root causes of FOIA processing delays. <\/p>\n Toward that end, the Commission established by the Faster FOIA Act would examine agency backlogs and recommend to Congress and the President steps that should be taken to reduce delays and make the administration of the FOIA equitable and efficient throughout the federal government. By including representatives of the FOIA requester community, the Commission would bring a fresh perspective to a persistent problem. <\/p>\n The Commission would also be tasked with examining the current FOIA system for charging fees and granting waiver fees. In our experience, an agency’s refusal to recognize a requester’s entitlement to a fee waiver all too often causes further processing delays and imposes yet another unreasonable bar to access under the FOIA. We welcome the opportunity this legislation presents for further study of this problem, specifically considering whether the current statutory provision should be reformed. <\/p>\n Thank you for your ongoing commitment to strengthening the Freedom of Information Act. <\/p>\n Sincerely, <\/p>\n OpenTheGovernment.org <\/p>\n American Association of Law Libraries <\/p>\n American Library Association <\/p>\n Association of Research Libraries <\/p>\n American Society of News Editors <\/p>\n Californians Aware <\/p>\n Center for Democracy and Technology <\/p>\n Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington <\/p>\n Defending Dissent Foundation <\/p>\n DC Open Government Coalition <\/p>\n Electronic Frontier Foundation <\/p>\n Essential Information <\/p>\n Government Accountability Project <\/p>\n iSolon.org <\/p>\n Justice Through Music <\/p>\n Liberty Coalition <\/p>\n Minnesota Coalition on Open Government <\/p>\n MuckRock <\/p>\n The Multiracial Activist <\/p>\n National Coalition for History <\/p>\n National Freedom of Information Coalition <\/p>\n National Security Archive <\/p>\n North Carolina Open Government Coalition <\/p>\n OMB Watch <\/p>\n Project On Government Oversight <\/p>\n Public Citizen <\/p>\n Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press <\/p>\n The Rutherford Institute <\/p>\n Sage Information Services <\/p>\n Society of Professional Journalists <\/p>\n Special Libraries Association <\/p>\n Sunlight Foundation <\/p>\n Velvet Revolution <\/p>\n Washington Coalition for Open Government <\/p>\n <\/p>\n