THE ADMINISTRATION S PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85M00364R001502640025-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 6, 2008
• Sequence Number: 25
• Publication Date: April 27, 1983
• Content Type: MEMO

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 DATE: 6j2/83
NUMBER: 118 6.8 9 CA
Executive negi"
DUE BY:
SUBJECT: Administration amendments to the-Freed
ALL CABINET MEMBERS
Vice President
State
Treasury
Defense
Attorney General
Interior
Agriculture
Commerce
Labor
HHS
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Transportation
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REMARKS: Attached is a memorandum from the Department of Justice regarding
proposed amendments to the Freedom of Information Act. This
material is provided to bring you up to date on Administration
action dealing with the Freedom of Information Act. Comments
should be directed to the Attorney General directly.
DOJ Review Completed.
RETURN TO: ^ Craig L. Fuller B"Becky Norton Dunlop
Assistant to the President Director, Office of
for Cabinet Affairs Cabinet Affairs
456-2823 456-2800
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THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
C"Mff A. STA. Gr MEMORAMUM
r-- /OO
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U.S. Departnient.ot..Justice
'` Office of Legal Policy
Assistant Attorney General Washington. D.C. 20530
MEMORAidDUM April 27, 1983
TO:. Members of the Cabinet Council on
Commerce and Trade
SUBJECT:
Jonathan C. Ros
Assistant Attofney General
Office of Legal Policy
The Administration's Proposed Amendments
to the Freedom of Information Act
At last week's CCCT meeting on the export of critical
technology, representatives of several departments asked about
the Justice Department's. proposals to amend the Freedom of
Information Act, including the proposals to better. protect
information relating to defense technology.
At the request of the Attorney General, I am enclosing
a copy of the Administration's proposed amendments to the FOIE,
which were introduced as S_ 1751 in'October 1981. After a
process of negotiation and compromise, a revised version of FOIta
reform legislation was approved unanimously by the Senate
Judiciary Committee in May 1982 as S. 1730. This compromise
version has been reintroduced in this Congress as S. 774 ;copy
attached at Tab 1), and has been endorsed by the Administration.
Attached at Tab 2 is a copy of my recent testimony in support of
S. 774 and a brief analysis of the provisions of the bill.
Of particular concern to the members of the CCCT, both
the original version of S. 1751 and the compromise version of S.
774 contain provisions to protect defense technology from
disclosure under the FOIA. The bills would provide a new
exemption from disclosure (Exemption 10 in S. 774) for any
technical data that may not be lawfully exported outside the
United States without the appropriate authorization or license.
The provision is intended to complement the existing
statutory prohibitions on the export of critical military
technology which.might be used for purposes contrary to American
interests. The principal statutes are the Arms Export Control
Act, 22 U.S.C. ? 2751 et se q., and the Export Administration Act
of 1979, 50 U.S.C. App. ? 2404. Much of this technical
information subject to export controls is, however, not
classified pursuant to Executive Order, and thus could not be
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withheld from disclosure under Exemption 1 of the FOIA. The-
proposed Exemption 10 would supply this basis for withholding.
The proposal drew some criticism in the last Congress,
principally from representatives of small businesses that compete
for military procurement contracts and therefore require access
to what is referred to as "production engineering and logistics
information" for use in preparing bids and in performing such
contracts. Although there appears to be a sufficient. basis for
the disclosure of the necessary information to contractors in
other provisions of law, these contractors generated some
controversy over the proposed exemption by arguing that the FOIA
is necessary to assure their access to this information.
The compromise version of S. 774 addresses these
concerns by adding a new ? 560 to 5 U.S.C. to authorize agencies
to establish reasonable procedures to provide limited access to
certain technical data to qualified contractors. Unlike
disclosures under the FOIA, disclosure under ? 560 would be
discretionary and would be made with such restrictions against
redissemination as necessary. This would permit access by
contractors while allowing agencies to deny access by others.
In a number of other areas, S. 774 would make much
needed improvements in the provisions of the FOIA. The principal
focus of the bill is in the area of law enforcement, where it
.would make a number of extremely important and long overdue
changes to prevent its abuse by those who would subvert effective
law enforcement.. Principally, these changes would increase the
protection for investigatory records and records relating to
confidential informants, and.would provide substantial protection
against the disclosure of information relating to organized
crime. Although these changes, in a few respects, do not go
quite far enough to remedy the demonstrated weaknesses in the
present law, there is no doubt that the changes make by the bill
would accomplish the greatest part of what the Administration set
out to do in advancing changes to improve effective law
enforcement.
Other improvements in the bill would permit agencies to
charge the full cost of processing FOIA requests, subject to
provisions for waiver of theses fees; extend somewhat the
existing time limits of the Act for processing requests; provide
greater protection for agency manuals and instructions to
investigators, auditors and negotiators; exempt Secret Service
records that relate to its protective function; broaden the
existing personal privacy exemption; and provide new procedures
to protect against the disclosure of confidential business-
information.
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