Political Quotes

“on July 4, the Nation will celebrate the 45th anniversary of the enactment of the Freedom of Information Act, FOIA. Now in its fifth decade, FOIA remains an indispensable tool for shedding light on government policies and government abuses. This premier open government law has helped to guarantee the public's ``right to know'' for generations of Americans. Today, the U.S. Government is more committed than in any time in our history to making and keeping government open and accountable to the people. As one of his first official acts, President Obama signed an historic Presidential Memorandum on the Freedom of Information Act, which restored the presumption of disclosure for all government information. I applaud President Obama for his commitment to FOIA, and I will continue to work closely with his administration to ensure that our government fulfills both the letter and spirit of this remarkable memorandum. While the Obama administration has made significant progress in improving the FOIA process, large backlogs remain a major roadblock to public access to information. A report released by the National Security Archive found that only about half of the Federal agencies surveyed have taken concrete steps to update their FOIA policies in light of the President's reforms. According to the Department of Justice's annual FOIA Report for fiscal year 2010, more than 69,000 FOIA requests remain backlogged across our government. These delays are simply unacceptable.…”