Justin Amash: “My amendment prohibits political meddling in the Department's compliance with the Freedom of Information Act, commonly…”

“My amendment prohibits political meddling in the Department's compliance with the Freedom of Information Act, commonly known as FOIA. FOIA gives citizens the right to know what their government is doing. As President Obama stated shortly after taking office, ``In our democracy, the Freedom of Information Act, which encourages accountability through transparency, is the most prominent expression of a profound national commitment to ensuring an open government.'' Countless instances of waste, fraud, and abuse have been exposed by using FOIA. In September 2009, political appointees in DHS implemented an unprecedented policy to review FOIA requests and documents proposed to be released. The current DHS political review process of FOIA is extraordinary. Chairman Issa and Senator Grassley wrote to 29 offices of inspectors general to request that they determine whether and to what extent political appointees have a role in responding to FOIA requests. According to the IGs surveyed, the level of involvement of DHS's political staff in the FOIA response process is uniquely high. While it is the case that political staff at a very small number of agencies have prior notice of newsworthy releases, at no other agency do front office staff have the opportunity to withhold or otherwise delay such releases to avoid embarrassment or for political reasons. FOIA is vital to our democracy. It is the most powerful single tool citizens and the press have to discover what our government is doing.…”