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On April 2, 1992 the Senate Subcommittee on Technology and the
Law will hold a public hearing on S. 1940, Senator Leahy's
"Electronic Freedom of Information Improvement Act of 1991."
This important legislation addresses the issue of the
availability of electronic records under the Freedom of
Information Act.

A number of persons have asked how Senator Leahy's Electronic
FOIA bill (S. 1940) relates to Representative Owens' Improvement
of Information Access Act (IIA Act, HR 3459), which also amends
the Freedom of Information Act.  The _short_ answer is that S.
1940 would strenghten the public's rights to receive electronic
records that are subject to a FOIA request, while the Owens bill
would enhance access by improving the scope and performance of
agency information products and services.  The principal
opposition to the Leahy bill comes from federal agencies who do
not like FOIA responsiblities, while the principal opposition to
the Owens bill comes from commerical data vendors who don't want
new government information products and services.  We plan to
provide a more detailed discussion of the two bills in a few
days.

Senator Leahy wants to use the April 2, 1992 hearing to develop a
record of the problems the public has in receiving electronic
records from agencies.  We are preparing a statement which will
address several issues, including, among other things:

     -    the Federal Reserve Bank's use of NTIS to sell the
          electronic copy of its bank call reports for $500 a
          tape, rather than releasing the information under a
          FOIA request for the cost of copying the information,

     -    the SEC/Mead contract that will prevent the electronic
          copy of EDGAR database from being available under FOIA,
          and

     -    the Department of Justice/WESTLAW contract which
          prevents the public from obtaining large portions of
          the JURIS database under FOIA.


We would be very interested in learning about _ANY_ problems
people have had receiving electronic records under FOIA.

For more information about S. 1940 or the April 2, 1992 hearing,
contact Cathy Russell, Counsel to the Subcomittee, at 202-224-
3406, or write to her at 815 Senate Hart Building, Washington, DC
20510.

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James Love, Director               VOICE:    609-683-0534
Taxpayer Assets Project            FAX:      202-234-5176
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Princeton, NJ 08540                internet: Love@pucc.princeton.edu