For release February 26, 2003

For more information, contact: Tom Blanton 202/994-7000 Meredith Fuchs 202/994-7000

HOMELAND SECURITY ACCESS REGS NEED IMPROVEMENT;
ARCHIVE URGES EFFECTIVE RECORDS MANAGEMENT,
APPLAUDS SECRETARY RIDGE'S COMMITMENT TO OPENNESS

National Security Archive Files Comments on New Department's FOIA Rules,
Suggests Eight Specific Changes and Commends Initial Progress

Washington, D.C., February 26, 2003 - The National Security Archive today submitted comments on the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulations that detail how the DHS will implement open government laws. The DHS regulations, issued on January 27, fall short of Congress's intent in eight specific areas, detailed in the Archive's formal comments. But the Archive also applauded DHS Secretary Tom Ridge's agreement to fix a freedom of information loophole included in the Homeland Security legislation, and his forcefully-stated commitment to transparency and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The Archive's eight specific recommendations include that:

• DHS commit to reviewing in full public comments on its FOIA regulations and modifying the regulations to make its FOIA processing more effective;
• DHS establish a Departmental FOIA policy development and compliance office;
• DHS develop effective records management systems that enhance the Department's ability to respond to FOIA requests;
• DHS incorporate FOIA's 20-day response times into its regulations;
• DHS permit administrative appeal of its failure to meet the statutory time limits;
• DHS notify requesters of their right to seek judicial review for its failure to meet the 20-day time limits;
• DHS handle all requests according to the date the request initially was received by the Department;
• DHS separate and not conflate fee categorization and fee waiver determinations.

Click here to read the full Archive Comments on the new regulations.

The National Security Archive won the prestigious George Polk Award in April 2000 for "piercing self-serving veils of government secrecy." The Archive's many FOIA litigation victories include the release of historic documentation ranging from the Kennedy-Khrushchev letters during the Cuban missile crisis to Oliver North's diaries during the Iran-contra scandal, and the landmark case that saved from destruction the White House e-mail of the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations. For more information, see www.nsarchive.org.