Issa, Cummings Call for House Passage of FOIA Improvement Act

Today, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., called on the House to pass and send the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Improvement Act to the President for his signature following its unanimous passage in the Senate last night.

“The FOIA Improvement Act will strengthen FOIA, the cornerstone open government law,” Issa and Cummings said in a joint statement.  “The House unanimously passed companion legislation, H.R. 1211, earlier this year.  The FOIA Improvement Act is a bipartisan bill that, after last night’s passage by the Senate, deserves to be taken up by the House and sent to the President.”

The FOIA Improvement Act, supported by more than 70 groups that advocate for government transparency, would add a presumption of openness to the Freedom of Information Act, strengthen the Office of Government Information Services, establish a Chief FOIA Officers Council, and require a FOIA website to make requesting records easier for requesters.