Cornyn reacts to AP report about White House screenings

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) today issued the following statement in response to an AP report that political operatives in the Obama Administration are screening Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests:

Read the full story here: Insiders worry over political ‘meddling’

“Citizens have a fundamental right to know what their government is doing and political operatives should not be interfering with legitimate requests by citizens and journalists under the Freedom of Information Act. I am deeply disturbed that Obama Administration political operatives filtered FOIA requests based on the political or professional affiliation of those requesting the transparency guaranteed to our citizens under federal law. And I commend the House panel for doing its job of oversight of the executive branch, and I hope they get to the bottom of these allegations.”

Sen. Cornyn recently re-introduced the bipartisan Faster FOIA Act with colleague Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT). This legislation would establish an advisory panel to examine agency backlogs in processing FOIA requests. The panel, named the Commission on Freedom of Information Act Processing Delays, will be required to provide recommendations to Congress for legislative and administrative action to enhance agency responses to FOIA requests.

Senator Cornyn serves on the Finance, Judiciary, Armed Services and Budget Committees.  He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee’s Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.

Posted by publisher on Mar 28 2011. Filed under Letters to the Editor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.