40 years ago (July 4th, 1966), the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was enacted despite the opposition of President Johnson to the legislation. Documents from the LBJ Library show that Johnson refused to hold a formal ceremony for FOIA. The National Security Archive created a site called Freedom of Information at 40 and lists copies of the key legislative history documents for the FOIA. Also National Sercurity Archive site has a complete FOIA legislative History.
In a related story, according to a report published by OpenGovernment.org., many federal agencies are still lagging behind in their efforts to comply with FOIA.
Other links of interest:
- FOIA Updates 1979 – 2000
- Annual FOIA Reports (from the Department of Justice)
- Text of FOIA 5 U.S.C. § 552
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What web site does the US Govt. recommend for the free annual credit report? I received a letter some time ago that had the name of the website on it. Anyway, this site was actually free, unlike some of the websites that claim they are. Unfortunately I misplaced the info. thanks
Hi Anon,
Normally we’d refer questions like yours to the friendly and efficient reference librarians of Government Information Online, but since this is a relatively new and popular service I thought I’d let you know that the Federal Trade Commission has the web site, a toll free number and other other information about the free credit report program on their website at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.htm.
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“And besides all that, what we need is a decentralized, distributed system of depositing electronic files to local libraries willing to host them.” — Daniel Cornwall, tipping his hat to Cato the Elder for the original quote.