U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Office of Legal Policy
June 11, 1981
The Speaker
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515Dear Mr. Speaker:
Enclosed is a copy of the Department of Justice's 1980 annual report on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) activities. This report covers FOIA activities of all Department of Justice organizations except the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission which submitted a separate report.
Because the Department processes Privacy Act requests (requests by individuals for access to records relating to themselves) under the FOIA as well as the Privacy Act, the enclosed report covers all access requests regardless of the Act cited by the requester.
A comparison of the report with our 1979 report shows that the Department received 3,714 fewer Privacy Act requests in 1980, and received 3,918 more FOIA requests. Even though this is a net increase of 204, reported costs increased by $3,337,535 and a backlog of an estimated 7,254 unprocessed requests increased by 1,110. We are unable to explain such an extraordinary cost increase except that it may be attributable to what one Department component described as a trend toward more expansive and complex requests.
Calendar year 1980 costs are reported on page 18 of the report. This cost table primarily reflects those costs incurred in "processing" access requests. Nevertheless, to the extent that such cost figures are available or can be estimated, certain ancillary costs have been footnoted. Not included at all, however, are significant costs the Department incurred in litigating FOIA issues for the United States Government.
While administration of the FOIA continues to demand considerable resources both in terms of time and money, the Department will continue to make a diligent effort to fully comply. At the same time, however, we are engaging in the process of developing an administrative position on amendments which we believe to be necessary to reduce the administrative burden on the entire executive branch.
Sincerely,
Jonathan C. Rose
Assistant Attorney General
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