Bush Administration FOIA Report Card Hits New Low

BUSH ADMINISTRATION FOIA REPORT CARD HITS NEW LOW
[SOURCE: Editor&Publisher, AUTHOR: Mark Fitzgerald]
Back in December of 2005 with the White House coming under increasing criticism for its secrecy, President George W. Bush ordered federal agencies to speed up their responses to requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A new FOIA report card by a coalition of journalists groups makes it clear that Bush's directive did not produce a "surge" in the response rate by the agencies. The study by the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government concludes the Bush directive did nothing to speed up responses by agencies that have been systematically cutting back the personnel assigned to FOIA work, even as backlogs of requests grow and the cost of fulfilling requests increases.
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