Congress passes FOIA reform bill

The House of Representatives recently passed the first Freedom of Information Act reform bill in more than a decade, according to a release from The National Security Archive.
If signed by the President, the bill would:
* Mandate tracking numbers for FOIA requests that take longer than 10 days to process to ensure they will no longer fall through the cracks.
* Require agencies to report more accurately to Congress and the public on their FOIA programs.,
* Create a new ombuds office at the National Archives to mediate conflicts between agencies and requesters, clarify the purpose of FOIA to encourage dissemination of government information.
* Provide incentives to agencies to avoid litigation and processing delays.
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