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On December 31, 2007, the “Openness
Promotes Effectiveness in our National
Government Act of 2007,” or the “OPEN
Government Act of 2007,” was signed into
law by President Bush. This law is
intended to further strengthen the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which
enables the public to request access to
federal agency records and information.
The law was introduced as a bipartisan
bill that was introduced by Senators
Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and John
Cornyn (R-Texas). The bill was intended to
help citizens obtain faster responses to
requests for information, and reflects the
changing media landscape and the proliferation
of Internet journalists.
According to the original language
of the bill, the legislation is designed to:
- Strengthen the FOIA and close
loopholes by protecting access to
FOIA fee waivers for legitimate
journalists, bloggers and other
Internet-based journalists
- Help FOIA requesters obtain
more timely responses to their
requests by setting up phone
and/or Internet-based FOIA
request tracking services
- Create a new FOIA ombudsman,
or complaint investigator, to
review agency FOIA compliance
and to provide alternatives to
litigation
- Set deadlines by which agencies
must act on FOIA requests within
20 days upon receipt
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