MEMORANDUM TO HEADS OF ALL FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80M01048A000300200006-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 14, 2006
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: July 11, 1973
• Content Type: MEMO

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July 11., 1973
MEMORANDUM TO HEADS OF ALL
FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
Re: Coordination of Certain Administrative
Matters under the Freedom of Information
Act, 5 U.S.C. 552. 1/
A matter of government-wide importance, and increasing
interest in Congress, is the need for improved administration
of the Freedom of Information Act. In this memorandum I wish
to bring you up to date on several actions which the Justice
Department is taking (Part I), and to request your assistance
on one of these actions (Part II)..
1/ The Freedom of Information Act provides for the compulsory
disclosure upon the request of "any person".of all agency
records not exempted by the Act, confers administrative re-
sponsibility on each agency with respect to its own records,
and makes the agency's final decisions subject to judicial
review, in which the agency has the burden of justifying
denials of access. The Department of Justice conducts liti-
gation in defense of agency determinations under the Act and
furnishes certain advisory and other services. Most of the
Department's litigation functions in this area are conducted
by the Civil Division, and the advisory and other functions
are conducted by the Office of Legal Counsel.
MORI/CDF
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i.
On June 26, 1973 I testified be. ore three Senate sub-
committees holding joint hearings on various bills per-
taining to the general subject of government secrecy. A
major portion of my testimony was directed toward S. 1142,
a ii'll l to allelld the Freedom of ILLforLtLcttloLI Ac t . A comT
panion-House bill, H.R. 5425, had been the subject of hear-
ings on May 8th, at which we were asked to testify on be-
half of the Administration and opposed most of the proposed
amendments.
During my June 26th testimony, while reiterating our
opposition to most of the proposed amendments, I gave major
emphasis to our determination to act on the well-publicized
and recurrent problems of inadequate disclosure which stimu-
late such proposals, stating that "the real need is not to
revise the Act extensively but to improve compliance." After
summarizing some of the causes of less-than-ideal compliance
and some of the means we are considering to upgrade it, I
announced four steps which the Justice Department will take
immediately, as follows:
"First, we will request the Civil Service
Commission to include Freedom. of Information
material in its executive training and legal
training programs and to ass i_st_ us inrraoga_ng
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for inclusion of similar material in other pro-
grams for training government personnel.
"Second, we will conduct an interagency
symposium on the Freedom of Information Act be-
fore the end of this year, to emphasize the need
for improved administration and to provide the
wider sharing of problems and ideas. This sym-
posium will involve two-way communications as
well as direct presentations, and we plan to in-
vite the participation of Congressional and pri-
vate speakers.
"Third, we will promptly institute discussions
with the Administrative Conference of the United
States, the Civil Service Commission, the Office
of Management and Budget, and perhaps other agen-
cies, seeking their assistance in launching a com-
prehensive study of how the Executive Branch can
better organize itself to administer the Act, both
within and among the agencies. This study will
cover staffing, budgeting, training, and meeting
the need for research in the application of the
Act to major areas like government procurement,
regulatory programs, law enforcement, and com-
puterized records. It will cover the extent to
which desirable improvements should be effected
by legislation, executive order, or departmental
orders. It will take account of inputs from out-
side the Executive Branch, and it is designed to
point the way to sound and relatively permanent
improvements, including greater speed of pro-
cessing, greater uniformity, and greater dis-
closure. Our objective will be to have this
study launched within 90 days and completed within
one year, with reports to be furnished to Congress.
"Fourth, I will immediately remind all federal
agencies of this Department's standing request that
they consult our Freedom of Information Committee
before issuing final denials of requests under the
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Act. In this connection I will order our litigating
divisions not to defend freedom of information law
suits against the agencies unless the Committee has
been consulted. And I will instruct the Committee
to make every possible effort to advance the ob-
jective of the fullest responsible disclosure."
II.
We wish to implement the fourth action set forth abDve
with the maximum understanding and the least friction possible.
There is a major need for closer coordination in the freedom
of information field, and it is the responsibility of the De-
partment of Justice to provide that coordination.
Your attention is invited to our standing request on this
subject, originally set forth in this Department's December 8,
1969 memorandum to the general counsels of all federal depart-
ments and agencies, as follows:
"We request that in the future you consult this
Department before your agency issues a final denial
of a request under the Freedom of Information Act
if there is any substantial possibility that such
denial might lead to a court decision adversely affect-
ing the government. Such consultation . . . may also
enable us to assist you in reaching a disposition of
the matter reasonably satisfactory both to your agency
and to the person making the requesst."
In this 1969 memorandum, the Department also announced the
establishment and initial membership of a committee of
lawyers in the Office of Legal Counsel and the Civil Division,
iComm i tt ei
now known as the F~'CC~,nUU-t' of i Information -
.i ~i ~:.i~td iC: t
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such consultations. 2/ Up to the present, the Committee
has conducted more than 200 consultations with agencies,
and its work has been conducted with speed and informality.
We would very much appreciate it if you would arrange
to make sure that the appropriate persons within your agency
are aware of our standing request, as just discussed. In
addition, it would be most helpful to the overall government
objective of the fullest responsible disclosure if your agency
could make special provisions, if none now exist, for speedy
and careful review at the highest agency level in any cases
in which officials of your agency, after consulting the
2/ The current membership of the Committee is Robert L.
Saloschin, ext. 2674, chairman, John Gallinger, ext. 2038,
and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Leon Ulman, ext. 2051,
chairman ex officio, all of the Office of Legal Counsel, and
Jeffrey Axelrad, ext. 3300 and Walter Fleischer, ext. 3354,
both of the Civil Division. The Committee maintains coopera-
tive arrangements with the Tax Division, which handles liti-
gation under the Act involving Internal Revenue Service
records, under which that Division screens proposed final
denials of such records and refers them to the Committee in
cases of doubt which may affect agencies in addition to the
Service.
3/ For a brief description of the work of the Committee
by its chairman, see 23 Admin. Law Rev. 147. For a recent
discussion of its work, see House Report No. 92-1419 on
the Administration of the Freedom of Information Act (the
"Moorhead Report") of September 20, 1972 at pp. 66-69.
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Committee and receiving advice to the contrary, adhere to
an intention of issuing a final denial.
Please feel free to cal us if you have any questions
about the foregoing. We.hope that through the procedures
and actions mentioned in this memorandum, and through ex-
changes of experience and views on problems of common in-
terest, the administration of the Act.can be steadily and
significantly improved, to the ultimate benefit of each
agency, the entire government, and the public.
Elliot L. Richardson
Attorney General
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