We can always always count on this White House to do the wrong thing, at precisely the wrong time. Bush Administration Works To Eliminate Special FOIA OfficeBy Cliff Montgomery – Feb. 13th, 2008Only a few weeks after George W. Bush signed into law a bill which amended the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the amendment’s main Senate backers have declared that his administration is working to eliminate a newly-created FOIA office–a direct breach of federal law.The new law will create a Government Information Services Office as a part of the National Archives and Records Administration. The office will contain an ombudsman, who will preside over FOIA disputes in all areas of government.It is hoped that such oversight will propel government agencies to more faithfully follow the law, as well as increase the conclusion of FOIA requests and force a clean-up of FOIA backlogs.Now here’s where it gets really interesting. The Bush Administration has refused to appropriate a single dollar to this new office in its Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 budget, released on Feb. 4th.So what agency will receive the dollars intended for the new office, if this White House gets its way?Bush’s FY 2009 budget allocates all authorized funding for the special FOIA office to the Justice Department (DOJ).A staffer for Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) recently told CongressDaily news service that if these funds are shifted to Justice, the Bush White House will for all real purposes eliminate the office before its creation, since it appears there are no plans to create a similar office at the DOJ.If Bush is successful, the funds probably will be used by DOJ’s Information Policy Office–the office currently doing such a splendid job overseeing government FOIA compliance.The recently-passed FOIA amendment, sponsored by Senators Leahy and John Cornyn (R-TX), placed the new oversight office outside the clutches of Bush’s “Justice” Department for a reason.National Archives administrators are rather independent of ideological pressures, Leahy’s aide told CongressDaily, “but DOJ is different,” the staffer added.Many transparency advocates say the DOJ is an inherently partial referee during the FOIA process, since it also represents any government agency being sued by Americans under FOIA.In a January 23rd floor speech, Leahy–who had received preliminary warning about the administration’s move–flatly declared Bush’s prospective plans illegal.”Such a move is not only contrary to the express intent of the Congress, but it is also contrary to the very purpose of this legislation–to ensure the timely and fair resolution of Americans’ FOIA requests,” said the senator.Sen. Cornyn’s staff soon echoed Leahy’s outrage.”He does agree with Senator Leahy and would oppose that effort [against the new FOIA amendment],” CongressDaily was told by a Cornyn spokesman.Hidden deep within an appendix to George W. Bush’s $3.1 trillion budget request is his quiet, though clumsy, effort to take the teeth out of the new FOIA amendment.The planned change is buried deep enough for most reporters to miss it. But it can be found in the Commerce Department’s budget appendix, on page 239 of an “appendix” which stretches over 1,300 pages.”Only those with a careful eye and good knowledge of the U.S. Code designations would notice it,” said OMB Watch, a non-profit government watchdog group which discovered Bush’s latest attempt to thwart the will of the people.A brief explanation is in order before we give the rather arcane quote from the appendix. According to The Library Of Congress’ website THOMAS.gov (which keeps a record of all bills passed by Congress), “section 552 of title 5 [of the] United States Code (U.S.C.) [is] commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act.”With that in mind, we’ll proceed to the quote. The Bush budget appendix proposes that:
- “The Department of Justice shall carry out the responsibilities of the office established in 5 U.S.C. 552(h), from amounts made available in the Department of Justice appropriation for ‘General Administration Salaries and Expenses’.”
Of course, “the office established in 5 U.S.C. 552(h)” is none other than the new Government Information Services Office, which Congresspeople on both sides of the aisle purposely separated from the Justice Department to ensure better FOIA compliance.Take The Spark’s word for it, senators: You can always always count on this White House to do the wrong thing, at precisely the wrong time.Like what you’re reading so far? Then why not order a full year (52 issues) of thee-newsletter for only $15? A major article covering an story not being told in the Corporate Press will be delivered to your email every Monday morning for a full year, for less than 30 cents an issue. Order Now!
