Politicians promote FOIA compliance.

• Position: UP FRONT

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) have joined to crack down on government offices that ignore public requests for information and to widen the public's access to government documents.

Leahy and Cornyn are promoting several legislative proposals that would create, for the first time, penalties for agencies that ignore Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. They also want to create a position for an independent arbiter--an FOIA ombudsman--who would help referee conflicts between the public and the government while requiring departments to provide more information on how quickly they process requests.

"In Washington, there's no real presumption of openness in the culture," Cornyn told the Washington Post. "If you're persistent enough and you're willing to wait long enough, you might actually get what you're entitled to. But there seems to be very few incentives ... to encourage timely compliance with FOIA requests."

FOIA has been used by millions every year since its inception in 1966. Journalists are the most high-profile users, but most requests come from the general public. More than 4 million requests were submitted last year, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) analysis of FOIA statistics submitted by 25 agencies. The majority--82 percent--went to two agencies: the Social Security Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Many requests classified by the agencies as FOIA-related came from individuals seeking information about their own medical records or benefits.

The government can refuse requests for such reasons as national security, personal privacy, and law enforcement concerns. Ninety-two percent of requests were granted in full last year, according to the GAO. Three percent were partially granted, 1 percent was denied, and 5 percent were "not disclosed for other reasons," the GAO said.

The GAO said the backlog of requests has increased 14 percent since 2002. The program has been famous among journalists for long delays, with some reporters waiting years for requests to be fulfilled. Experts said there are good reasons for delays. More people are requesting more information through FOIA--the GAO said the number of requests increased by 71 percent between 2002 and 2004. Documents may be difficult to locate, and requests may be unclearly written. Agencies may not have the money or manpower to keep up with the requests and still tend to their primary jobs.

A Justice Department...