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Delays, fees thwart Freedom of Information Act, critics say.

Article Excerpt
Twenty-one years after the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was signed into law in 1966, journalist Seth Rosenfeld filed a FOIA request to get FBI records on the University of California. Today, after filing several lawsuits seeking release of the documents, Rosenfeld still awaits some of them, making his the longest currently pending FOIA request.

Despite Congress's intent to make federal government records available to nearly anyone who requests them, FOIA is falling short of its promise, critics contend. Especially in recent years, they say, government agencies are using excessive fees, delays, and classification of previously unclassified information to avoid releasing requested documents.

"This bulwark of open government is under assault," said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) at a March hearing on the need to reform FOIA. "Liberals and conservatives both recognize a dangerous trend toward overclassification of information, at enormous cost to the taxpayers and risk to our citizens."

With Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), Leahy introduced two bills--the Open Government Act and the Faster FOIA Act--in February and March, respectively. The former would enforce timely responses to FOIA requests, provide a tracking system for requests and their status, and ensure attorney fees for plaintiffs who file successful lawsuits after their FOIA requests are denied. The Faster FOIA Act, which the Senate Judiciary Committee quickly approved, would establish a commission to recommend ways to speed up government compliance with FOIA requests.

Leahy also cosponsored the Restoration of Freedom of Information Act. This legislation would limit exemptions that were expanded by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 for releasing information under FOIA.

FOIA exempts from release information classified as secret by an executive order; agency personnel rules and practices; information specifically exempted by a statute; trade secrets and...

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