CONTENTS Part I. Introduction_ Part II. The Regulations: A General Analysis- Part III. The Law in Action: A Review After One Year_ Appendix A-Executive Office of the President__ Central Intelligence Agency--- Office of Economic Opportunity. Appendix B-Executive Departments.. (Agency for International Development, Peace Corps.) (Bureau of Customs, Office of Treasurer, Internal Revenue Service, (Office, Secretary of Defense; Departments of Army, Navy, and Air Force; Defense Contract Audit Agency; Defense Supply Agency.) (Immigration and Naturalization Service.) Department of the Interior_. (Office of the Secretary, Agricultural Stabilization and Conserva- (Bureau of the Census, Economic Development Administration.) Department of Health, Education, and Welfare_ Department of Housing and Urban Development_ Department of Transportation _ _ _ _ (U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Aviation Administration.) Appendix C-Independent Agencies. Atomic Energy Commission. Civil Aeronautics Board__. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Farm Credit Administration__. Federal Communications Commission_ Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Federal Home Loan Bank Board.. Federal Power Commission_. Federal Trade Commission_. General Services Administration___ Interstate Commerce Commission__ National Aeronautics and Space Administration_ Renegotiation Board___ Securities and Exchange Commission_ Selective Service System___. Subversive Activities Control Board_ U.S. Civil Service Commission_. U.S. Information Agency-- Veterans' Administration_. 90th Can 2d Ses 36 J FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ation and Analysis of Departmental Regulations Part I.-Introduction edom of Information Act (Public Law 89-487) was signed ent Lyndon B. Johnson on July 4, 1966.' It went into effect 1967. ning the bill, the President stated, in part: legislation springs from one of our most essential principles: cracy works best when the people have all the information e security of the Nation permits. No one should be able to pull is of secrecy around decisions which can be revealed without to the public interest." is new public records law was enacted as an amendment to section he Administrative Procedure Act of 1946,2 and emerged from the tional inadequacy of the prior section 3, which contained the general statutory provision for public disclosure of executive nch rules, opinions, and orders, and public records. Some of its visions, however, were vague and contained disabling loopholes ich made the section as much a basis for withholding information 3 one for disclosing. Section 3 subsequently was the target of many legislative attempts to close the loopholes and make the language more specific, but all failed of final approval until the 1966 amendment. The Subcommittee on Foreign Operations and Government Information (and its predecessor the Special Subcommittee on Government Information) of the House Committee on Government Operations conducted extensive research and hearings on the overall problem and specific legislative proposals. The Freedom of Information Act reversed long-standing Government information policies and customs. Previously, most agencies operated on the basis of the original section 3, which stated that unless otherwise required by statute, "matters of official record shall in accordance with published rule be made available to persons properly and directly concerned except information held confidential for good cause found." Moreover, the original section 3 contained a blanket exclusion from its applicability of any function of the United States requiring secrecy in the "public interest." The Freedom of Information Act replaced this general language relating to secrecy, restricting withholding authority to matters "specifically required by Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of the national defense or foreign policy." This change indicates that As a result of Public Law 90-23, approved June 5, 1967, Public Law 89-487 was codified as 5 U.S.C. 552, et seq. See appendix G for text of sec. 3 of the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946. 1 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (Compilation and Analysis of Departmental Regulations Part I.-Introduction The Freedom of Information Act (Public Law 89-487) was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 4, 1966.1 It went into effect on July 4, 1967. On signing the bill, the President stated, in part: "This legislation springs from one of our most essential principles: A democracy works best when the people have all the information that the security of the Nation permits. No one should be able to pull curtains of secrecy around decisions which can be revealed without injury to the public interest." This new public records law was enacted as an amendment to section 3 of the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946,2 and emerged from the functional inadequacy of the prior section 3, which contained the first general statutory provision for public disclosure of executive branch rules, opinions, and orders, and public records. Some of its provisions, however, were vague and contained disabling loopholes which made the section as much a basis for withholding information as one for disclosing. Section 3 subsequently was the target of many legislative attempts to close the loopholes and make the language more specific, but all failed of final approval until the 1966 amendment. The Subcommittee on Foreign Operations and Government Information (and its predecessor the Special Subcommittee on Government Information) of the House Committee on Government Operations conducted extensive research and hearings on the overall problem and specific legislative proposals. The Freedom of Information Act reversed long-standing Government information policies and customs. Previously, most agencies operated on the basis of the original section 3, which stated that unless otherwise required by statute, "matters of official record shall in accordance with published rule be made available to persons properly and directly concerned except information held confidential for good cause found." Moreover, the original section 3 contained a blanket exclusion from its applicability of any function of the United States requiring secrecy in the "public interest." The Freedom of Information Act replaced this general language relating to secrecy, restricting withholding authority to matters "specifically required by Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of the national defense or foreign policy." This change indicates that As a result of Public Law 90-23, approved June 5, 1967, Public Law 89-487 was codified as 5 U.S.C. 552, et seq. See appendix G for text of sec. 3 of the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946. 1 |