As a U.S. Senator, I take seriously my responsibility to conduct oversight over the executive branch and ensure our federal government is accountable and transparent. The Department of Justice recently released a proposed regulation that would allow federal departments and agencies to respond to certain Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from citizens “as if the excluded records did not exist,” even when such records do, in fact, exist. To be clear, the proposed regulation expressly authorizes the government to deceive American citizens under a framework initially designed to promote and foster freer access to information. I sent a letter to Attorney General Holder and suggested an alternative approach that recognizes the need to keep certain information classified, but ensures that the government is not lying to the American people.
Original Title
Letter to Attorney General Holder on the Freedom of Information Act
As a U.S. Senator, I take seriously my responsibility to conduct oversight over the executive branch and ensure our federal government is accountable and transparent. The Department of Justice recently released a proposed regulation that would allow federal departments and agencies to respond to certain Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from citizens “as if the excluded records did not exist,” even when such records do, in fact, exist. To be clear, the proposed regulation expressly authorizes the government to deceive American citizens under a framework initially designed to promote and foster freer access to information. I sent a letter to Attorney General Holder and suggested an alternative approach that recognizes the need to keep certain information classified, but ensures that the government is not lying to the American people.
As a U.S. Senator, I take seriously my responsibility to conduct oversight over the executive branch and ensure our federal government is accountable and transparent. The Department of Justice recently released a proposed regulation that would allow federal departments and agencies to respond to certain Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from citizens “as if the excluded records did not exist,” even when such records do, in fact, exist. To be clear, the proposed regulation expressly authorizes the government to deceive American citizens under a framework initially designed to promote and foster freer access to information. I sent a letter to Attorney General Holder and suggested an alternative approach that recognizes the need to keep certain information classified, but ensures that the government is not lying to the American people.
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