CHAPTER IV H. Rept. 93-876 AMENDING SECTION 552 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, KNOWN AS THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (119) 93D CONGRESS 2d Session HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES {. No. 93-876 REPORT AMENDING SECTION 552 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE, KNOWN AS THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT MARCH 5, 1974.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. HOLIFIELD, from the Committee on Government Operations, submitted the following. REPORT [To accompany H.R. 12471] The Committee on Government Operations, to whom was referred the bill (H.R. 12471) to amend section 552 of title 5, United States Code, known as the Freedom of Information Act, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass. National defense and foreign policy exemption. Reports to Congress. Definition of "agency." Information to Congress. Agency views. Section-by-section analysis. Changes in existing law made by the bill, as reported. Appendix 1.-Agency views. INTRODUCTION H.R. 12471 seeks to strengthen the procedural aspects of the Freedom of Information Act by several amendments which clarify certain provisions of the Act, improve its administration, and expedite the handling of requests for information from Federal agencies in order to contribute to the fuller and faster release of information, which is the basic objective of the Act. The amendments to section 552(a), title 5, United States Code contained in H.R. 12471 seek to overcome certain major deficiencies in the administration of the Freedom of Information Act as disclosed by investigative hearings held in 1972 by the Foreign Operations and Government Information Subcommittee. These amendments deal with the inadequacy of agency indexes of pertinent information, difficulties in procedures required for the requisite identification of records, Federal agency delays in responses to requests for information by the public, and the cost burden of litigation in Federal courts to persons requesting information. An additional amendment to section 552(a) clarifies language in the Freedom of Information Act regarding the authority of the courts, as part of their de novo determination of the matter, to examine the content of records alleged to be exempt from disclosure under any of the exemptions in section 552(b) of the Act. An amendment is made to section 552(b)(1)—pertaining to national defense and foreign policy matters-in order to bring that exemption within the scope of matters subject to in camera review as provided under the amended language of section 552(a)(2). The language of the other eight exemptions would not be amended by this bill. H.R. 12471 adds a new subsection (d) to the Act which provides a mechanism for strengthening Congressional oversight in the administration of the Act by requiring annual reports to House and Senate committees. Such reports, required from every agency, would include several types of statistical data and other information necessary for Congressional oversight. Included, for instance, are data on denials of requests under the Act, administrative appeals of denials, rules made, and fee schedules and funds collected for searches and reproduction of requested information. H.R. 12471 also adds a new subsection (e) to the Act which broadens the definition of "agency" for the purposes of the Act. COMMITTEE VOTE The committee considered H.R. 12471 on February 21, 1974, and ordered the bill reported by a unanimous voice vote. SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND This committee's concern with information policies and practices of the executive branch of the Federal Government has a long history. On June 9, 1955, the Special Subcommittee on Government Information was created by the late chairman of the Government Operations Committee, Representative William L. Dawson. In his letter appointing Representative John E. Moss as chairman of this subcommittee,1 he observed: An informed public makes the difference between mob rule and democratic government. If the pertinent and necessary information on government activities is denied the public, the result is a weakening of the democratic process and the ultimate atrophy of our form of government. The chartering letter requested the subcommittee: *** to study the operation of the agencies and officials in the executive branch of the Government at all levels with a view to determining the efficiency and economy of such operation in the field of information both intragovernmental and extragovernmental. With this guiding purpose your Subcommittee will ascertain the trend in the availability of Government information and will scrutinize the information practices of executive agencies and officials in the light of their propriety, fitness, and legality. You will seek practicable solutions for such shortcomings, and remedies for such derelictions, as you may find and report your findings to the full Committee with recommendations for action. Over the next decade, the Special Subcommittee on Government Information and its successor standing subcommittees conducted extensive investigative hearings into all aspects of Government information activities; investigated numerous complaints of information withholding; compiled vast amounts of data; and prepared periodic progress reports, numerous substantive reports proposing administrative and legislative actions to improve the efficiency and economy of Government information activities, and other publications. In addition, it carried out other related types of oversight functions in this field. In 1958, the Congress enacted the first legislative proposal reported by this committee aimed at reducing the authority of executive agencies to withhold information (H.R. 2767-P.L. 85-619). This amendment to the 1789 "housekeeping" statute, which gave Federal agencies the authority to regulate their business, set up filing systems, and keep records, provided that this authority "does not authorize withholding information from the public or limiting the availability of records to the public." Extensive investigative and legislative hearings by the subcommittee over the next eight years resulted in the enactment of P.L. 89-487-the Freedom of Information Act of 1966-which became 1 The other two charter members were Representatives Dante B. Fascell and Clare E. Hoffman. Hearings, "Availability of Information from Federal Departments and Agencies," Special Subcommittee on Government Information, House Government Operations Committee, November 7, 1955, part 1, p. 2. 384th-87th Congress 1955-62-Special Government Information Subcommittee: Mr. Moss (chairman); 88th Congress-1903-64-Foreign Operations and Government Information Subcommittee: Mr. Moss (chairman). The subcommittee was formed from the jurisdiction of the former Special Government Information Subcommittee and part of the jurisdiction of the former Foreign Operations and Monetary Affairs Subcommittee. (Representative William S. Moorhead became subcommittee chairman at the beginning of the 92d Congress.) Previously, 5 U.S. Code, Sec. 22; now codified as section 301, title 5, U.S. Code. |