Hearing of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee - Rep. Cisneros Delivers Testimony in HVAC on Va FOIA BilL

Hearing

Today, Representative Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr. (CA-39) delivered testimony on his bill to increase VA transparency and decrease the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request backlog during a House Veterans' Affairs Full Committee legislative hearing. Rep. Cisneros introduced the bill on June 15th. To view his testimony, click here.

"Thank you, Chairman Takano for including my legislation, H.R. 7163, the VA FOIA Reform Act of 2020, during today's hearing. I was proud to introduce this bill with my friend and colleague, Congressman Max Rose. Our legislation would help increase transparency in the U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs and decrease its Freedom of Information or "FOIA" request backlog.

"The Freedom of Information Act, first enacted into law in 1966, established a legal right to access government information, underscoring the importance of transparency to citizens in our democracy.

"However, data from the Department of Justice demonstrates that in practice, many of our citizens have been unable to access documents under the law due to the backlog of FOIA requests, and the VA is not immune. It is not uncommon for congressional offices, including mine, to have congressional casework requests to help secure FOIA documents. Our veterans should not need Congressional intervention to access documents they are entitled to the under federal law.

"The VA FOIA Reform Act works to address this ongoing problem with tangible goals to help keep the VA accountable. The legislation requires the VA to reduce their current FOIA backlog by 75% within three years. It also requires a review of the VA's FOIA practices by an independent office within the National Archives, and requires the VA to develop a plan to address the technological, budgetary, and other root causes that contribute to the backlog. Finally, it requires the VA to report to Congress on a plan to implement real and lasting solutions to help veterans access the documents that they need.

"This is common sense legislation supported by the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Demand Progress, and the Project on Government Oversight. I thank the committee for holding this hearing and urge that it be marked up with deliberate speed."

The VA FOIA Reform Act would require:

Reduction by 75% of the current FOIA backlog within three years;
A similar reduction for the requests made for documents by the independent federal agency that investigates whistleblowers, the Office of Special Counsel;
A review of VA's FOIA practices by the National Archives (they do this when an agency requests);
Development of a plan to address the technological or other problems that worsen the backlog for responding to FOIA requests;
And reporting to Congress about the root causes and a plan to implement the solutions for the FOIA backlog.

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