Patrick Leahy: “with the enactment of bipartisan Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, reform legislation late last year, Congress demanded…”

“with the enactment of bipartisan Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, reform legislation late last year, Congress demanded and won more openness and accountability in monitoring the activities of our Government. But, regrettably, just weeks after this historic open government legislation was signed into law, there are troubling signs from the Bush administration regarding how this law will be enforced. Last week, the President buried a provision in the administration's fiscal year 2009 budget proposal that would move the functions of the new Office of Government Information Services, OGIS, which was created under the OPEN Government Act, from the independent National Archives and Records Administration to the Department of Justice. The President's proposal is not only contrary to the express intent of the Congress, but contrary to the very purpose of this legislation--to ensure the timely and fair resolution of American's FOIA requests.”