II 

Calendar No. 31 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 627 

To establish the Commission on Freedom of Information Act Processing 

Delays. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 17, 2011 

Mr. LEAHY (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. TESTER) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

APRIL 8, 2011 

Reported by Mr. LEAHY, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To establish the Commission on Freedom of Information 

Act Processing Delays. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. COMMISSION ON FREEDOM OF INFORMATION 

4 ACT PROCESSING DELAYS. 

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

6 ‘‘Faster FOIA Act of 2011’’. 


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1 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Com2 mission on Freedom of Information Act Processing Delays 

3 (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’ for the pur4 pose of conducting a study relating to methods to help 

5 reduce delays in processing requests submitted to Federal 

6 agencies under section 552 of title 5, United States Code 

7 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Freedom of Information 

8 Act’’). 

9 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 

11 composed of 16 12 members of whom— 

12 (A) 3 2 shall be appointed by the chairman 

13 of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Sen14 ate; 

15 (B) 3 2 shall be appointed by the ranking 

16 member of the Committee on the Judiciary of 

17 the Senate; 

18 (C) 3 2 shall be appointed by the chairman 

19 of the Committee on Government Reform of the 

20 House of Representatives; 

21 (D) 3 2 shall be appointed by the ranking 

22 member of the Committee on Government Re23 form of the House of Representatives; 

24 (E) 1 shall be appointed by the Attorney 

25 General of the United States; 


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1 (F) 1 shall be appointed by the Director of 

2 the Office of Management and Budget; 

3 (G) 1 shall be appointed by the Archivist 

4 of the United States; and 

5 (H) 1 shall be appointed by the Comp6 troller General of the United States. 

7 (2) QUALIFICATIONS OF CONGRESSIONAL AP8 POINTEES.—Of the 3 2 appointees under each of 

9 subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D) of paragraph 

10 (1) at least 21 shall have experience in academic re11 search as a FOIA requestor, or in the fields of library 

12 science, information management, or public access to 

13 Government information. 

14 (3) TIMELINESS OF APPOINTMENTS.—Appoint15 ments to the Commission shall be made as expedi16 tiously as possible, but not later than 60 days after 

17 the date of enactment of this Act. 

18 (d) STUDY.—The Commission shall conduct a study 

19 to— 

20 (1) identify methods that— 

21 (A) will help reduce delays in the proc22 essing of requests submitted to Federal agen23 cies under section 552 of title 5, United States 

24 Code; and 


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1 (B) ensure the efficient and equitable ad2 ministration of that section throughout the 

3 Federal Government; 

4 (2) examine whether the system for charging 

5 fees and granting waivers of fees under section 552 

6 of title 5, United States Code, needs to be reformed 

7 in order to reduce delays in processing requests; and 

8 (3) examine and determine— 

9 (A) why the Federal Government’s use of 

10 the exemptions under section 552(b) of title 5, 

11 United States Code, increased during fiscal 

12 year 2009; 

13 (B) the reasons for any increase, including 

14 whether the increase was warranted and wheth15 er the increase contributed to FOIA processing 

16 delays; 

17 (C) what efforts were made by Federal 

18 agencies to comply with President Obama’s 

19 January 21, 2009 Presidential Memorandum on 

20 Freedom of Information Act Requests and 

21 whether those efforts were successful; and 

22 (D) make any recommendations on how 

23 the use of exemptions under section 552(b) of 

24 title 5, United States Code, may be limited.; 

25 and 


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1 (E)(i) whether any disparities in proc2 essing, processing times, and completeness of re3 sponses to FOIA requestors have occurred based 

4 upon political considerations, ideological view5 points, the identity of the requestors, affiliation 

6 with the media, or affiliation with advocacy 

7 groups; 

8 (ii) if any disparities have occurred, why 

9 such disparities have occurred; and 

10 (iii) the extent to which political appointees 

11 have been involved in the FOIA process. 

12 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

13 of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit a 

14 report to Congress and the President containing the re15 sults of the study under this section, which shall include— 

16 (1) a description of the methods identified by 

17 the study; 

18 (2) the conclusions and recommendations of the 

19 Commission regarding— 

20 (A) each method identified; and 

21 (B) the charging of fees and granting of 

22 waivers of fees; and 

23 (3) recommendations for legislative or adminis24 trative actions to implement the conclusions of the 

25 Commission. 


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1 (f) STAFF AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERV2 ICES.—The Archivist of the United States shall provide 

3 to the Commission such staff and administrative support 

4 services, including research assistance at the request of 

5 the Commission, as necessary for the Commission to per6 form its functions efficiently and in accordance with this 

7 section. 

8 (f) STAFF AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERV9 ICES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Archivist of the United 

11 States shall provide to the Commission such staff and 

12 administrative support services, including research 

13 assistance at the request of the Commission, as nec14 essary for the Commission to perform its functions ef15 ficiently and in accordance with this section. 

16 (2) PAYMENT OF EXPENSES.— 

17 (A) STAFF SALARIES.—The Archivist of the 

18 United States shall pay staff expenses relating to 

19 salaries under this subsection from available ap20 propriations in the applicable account for sala21 ries of the National Archives and Records Ad22 ministration. 

23 (B) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.— 

24 Except as provided under subparagraph (A), the 

25 Archivist of the United States shall pay staff and 


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1 administrative expenses under this subsection 

2 from available appropriations in the operating 

3 expenses account of the National Archives and 

4 Records Administration. 

5 (3) APPROPRIATIONS REQUESTS.—Expenses paid 

6 under this subsection shall not form the basis for ad7 ditional appropriations requests from the National 

8 Archives and Records Administration in the future. 

9 (g) INFORMATION.—To the extent permitted by law, 

10 the heads of executive agencies, the Government Account11 ability Office, and the Congressional Research Service 

12 shall provide to the Commission such information as the 

13 Commission may require to carry out its functions. 

14 (h) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—Members of the 

15 Commission shall serve without compensation for services 

16 performed for the Commission. 

17 (i) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the Com18 mission shall be allowed travel expenses, including per 

19 diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employ20 ees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 

21 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or 

22 regular places of business in the performance of services 

23 for the Commission. 

24 (i) TRAVEL EXPENSES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The members of the Commis2 sion shall be allowed travel expenses, including per 

3 diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for 

4 employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 

5 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from 

6 their homes or regular places of business in the per7 formance of services for the Commission. 

8 (2) PAYMENT OF EXPENSES.—The Administrator 

9 of General Services shall pay travel expenses under 

10 this subsection from available appropriations in the 

11 operating expenses account of the General Services 

12 Administration. 

13 (3) APPROPRIATIONS REQUESTS.—Expenses paid 

14 under this subsection shall not form the basis for ad15 ditional appropriations requests from the National 

16 Archives and Records Administration in the future. 

17 (j) TRANSPARENCY.—All meetings of the Commis18 sion shall be open to the public, except that a meeting, 

19 or any portion of it, may be closed to the public if it con20 cerns matters or information described in chapter 552b(c) 

21 of title 5, United States Code. Interested persons shall be 

22 permitted to appear at open meetings and present oral or 

23 written statements on the subject matter of the meeting. 

24 The Commission may administer oaths or affirmations to 

25 any person appearing before the Commission. 


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1 (k) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall terminate 

2 30 days after the submission of the report under sub3 section (e). 


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Calendar No. 31 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 627 

A BILL 

To establish the Commission on Freedom of 

Information Act Processing Delays. 

APRIL 8, 2011 

Reported with amendments 


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