{ "id": "97-71", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "97-71", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 450960, "date": "2016-03-18", "retrieved": "2016-03-24T16:51:07.847492", "title": "Access to Government Information in the United States: A Primer", "summary": "No provision in the U.S. Constitution expressly establishes a procedure for public access to executive branch records or meetings. Congress, however, has legislated various public access laws. Among these laws are two records access statutes,\nthe Freedom of Information Act (FOIA; 5 U.S.C. \u00a7552), and \nthe Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. \u00a7552a),\nand two meetings access statutes, \nthe Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA; 5 U.S.C. App.), and \nthe Government in the Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. \u00a7552b). \nThese four laws provide the foundation for access to executive branch information in the American federal government. The records-access statutes provide the public with a variety of methods to examine how executive branch departments and agencies execute their missions. The meeting-access statutes provide the public the opportunity to participate in and inform the policy process. These four laws are also among the most used and most litigated federal access laws.\nWhile the four statutes provide the public with access to executive branch federal records and meetings, they do not apply to the legislative or judicial branches of the U.S. government. The American separation of powers model of government provides a collection of formal and informal methods that the branches can use to provide information to one another. Moreover, the separation of powers anticipates conflicts over the accessibility of information. These conflicts are neither unexpected nor necessarily destructive. Although there is considerable interbranch cooperation in the sharing of information and records, such conflicts over access may continue on occasion.\nThis report offers an introduction to the four access laws and provides citations to additional resources related to these statutes. This report includes statistics on the use of FOIA and FACA and on litigation related to FOIA. The 114th Congress may have an interest in overseeing the implementation of these laws or may consider amending the laws. In addition, this report provides some examples of the methods Congress, the President, and the courts have employed to provide or require the provision of information to one another. This report is a primer on information access in the U.S. federal government and provides a list of resources related to transparency, secrecy, access, and nondisclosure.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/97-71", "sha1": "aadb0857dcd6d3e97440b041167f76b715a24570", "filename": "files/20160318_97-71_aadb0857dcd6d3e97440b041167f76b715a24570.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/97-71", "sha1": "3881c809a071a77fcd663daf0e992b2dd5349cfa", "filename": "files/20160318_97-71_3881c809a071a77fcd663daf0e992b2dd5349cfa.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 2170, "name": "Government Information: Transparency, Protection, and Access" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc816803/", "id": "97-71_2013Jan16", "date": "2009-08-31", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Access to Government Information In the United States: A Primer", "summary": "The U.S. Constitution makes no specific allowance for any one of the three branches of the federal government to have access to information held by the others. No provision in the U.S. Constitution expressly establishes a procedure for public access to government information. Congress has legislated various public access laws. Among these laws are two records access statutes, The Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act, and two meetings access statutes, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and the Government in the Sunshine Act. This report offers an overview of the four information access laws noted above, and provides citations to additional resources related to these tools.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20090831_97-71_40633f884a28cccda48e4e5ad33201ca919e14ca.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20090831_97-71_40633f884a28cccda48e4e5ad33201ca919e14ca.html", "source": "pymupdf" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Government information", "name": "Government information" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Government information -- Law and legislation", "name": "Government information -- Law and legislation" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Freedom of information", "name": "Freedom of information" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc819663/", "id": "97-71_2008Mar13", "date": "2008-03-13", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Access to Government Information In the United States", "summary": "The Constitution of the United States makes no specific allowance for any one of\r\n the co-equal branches to have access to information held by the others and contains no\r\n provision expressly establishing a procedure for, or a right of, public access to\r\n government information. Nonetheless, Congress has legislated various public access\r\n laws. These include two records access statutes \u2014 the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act \u2014 and two meetings access statutes \u2014 the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the Government in the Sunshine Act. This report provides background on the issue of government transparency and examines relevant litigation.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20080313_97-71_8766d03d2d10d04c4d672d9f7c29c221a6ead51d.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20080313_97-71_8766d03d2d10d04c4d672d9f7c29c221a6ead51d.html", "source": "pymupdf" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Government information", "name": "Government information" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Government information -- Law and legislation", "name": "Government information -- Law and legislation" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Freedom of information", "name": "Freedom of information" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc809951/", "id": "97-71_2007Dec05", "date": "2007-12-05", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Access to Government Information In the United States", "summary": "The Constitution of the United States makes no specific allowance for any one of the co-equal branches to have access to information held by the others and contains no provision expressly establishing a procedure for, or a right of, public access to government information. Nonetheless, Congress has legislated various public access laws. These include two records access statutes \u2014 the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act \u2014 and two meetings access statutes \u2014 the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the Government in the Sunshine Act. This report provides background on the issue of government transparency and examines relevant litigation.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20071205_97-71_2b41989f5279dbd21e041e5f8681ff047206ec86.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20071205_97-71_2b41989f5279dbd21e041e5f8681ff047206ec86.html", "source": "pymupdf" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Government information", "name": "Government information" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Government information -- Law and legislation", "name": "Government information -- Law and legislation" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Freedom of information", "name": "Freedom of information" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc820851/", "id": "97-71_2007Apr23", "date": "2007-04-23", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Access to Government Information In the United States", "summary": "The Constitution of the United States makes no specific allowance for any one of\r\nthe co-equal branches to have access to information held by the others and contains no\r\nprovision expressly establishing a procedure for, or a right of, public access to\r\ngovernment information. Nonetheless, Congress has legislated various public access\r\nlaws. These include two records access statutes \u2014 the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act \u2014 and two meetings access statutes \u2014 the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the Government in the Sunshine Act. This report provides background on the issue of government transparency and examines relevant litigation.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20070423_97-71_d8714b471dd7d5ca552f0a6c3cf0a4a1f9779720.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20070423_97-71_d8714b471dd7d5ca552f0a6c3cf0a4a1f9779720.html", "source": "pymupdf" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Government information", "name": "Government information" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Government information -- Law and legislation", "name": "Government information -- Law and legislation" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Freedom of information", "name": "Freedom of information" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc820636/", "id": "97-71_2005Jan07", "date": "2005-01-07", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Access to Government Information In the United States", "summary": "The Constitution of the United States makes no specific allowance for any one of\r\n the co-equal branches to have access to information held by the others and contains no\r\n provision expressly establishing a procedure for, or a right of, public access to\r\n government information. Nonetheless, Congress has legislated various public access\r\n laws. These include two records access statutes \u2014 the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act \u2014 and two meetings access statutes \u2014 the Federal Advisory Committee Act and the Government in the Sunshine Act. This report provides background on the issue of government transparency.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20050107_97-71_b22b64fd1e041468236f5ecf5982be91d3d4e95b.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20050107_97-71_b22b64fd1e041468236f5ecf5982be91d3d4e95b.html", "source": "pymupdf" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Government information", "name": "Government information" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Government information -- Law and legislation", "name": "Government information -- Law and legislation" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Freedom of information", "name": "Freedom of information" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs4982/", "id": "97-71_2003Jan23", "date": "2003-01-23", "retrieved": "2005-06-11T19:32:46", "title": "Access to Government Information in the United States", "summary": "The Constitution of the United States makes no specific allowance for any one of the co-equal branches to have access to information held by the others and contains no provision expressly establishing a procedure for, or a right of, public access to government information. Nonetheless, Congress has legislated various public access laws. These include two records access statutes\u2014the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a)\u2014and two meetings access statutes\u2014the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) and the Government in\r\nthe Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. 552b). Moreover, due to the American separation of powers model of government, interbranch conflicts over the accessibility of information are neither unexpected nor necessarily destructive. The federal courts, historically, have\r\nbeen reluctant to review and resolve \u201cpolitical questions\u201d involving information disputes between Congress and the executive branch. Although there is considerable interbranch cooperation, such conflicts probably will continue to occur on occasion.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20030123_97-71_3b79765822feb5daec4f857860fc3f29a9784ab5.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20030123_97-71_3b79765822feb5daec4f857860fc3f29a9784ab5.html", "source": "pymupdf" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Government information", "name": "Government information" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Government information - Law and legislation", "name": "Government information - Law and legislation" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Freedom of information", "name": "Freedom of information" } ] } ], "topics": [ "American Law" ] }