OGIS FOIA Ombudsman Acknowledges Congressional and Archives Support

LOOKING AHEAD In its fifth year, OGIS will continue to offer mediation services to requesters and agencies; review agencies’ FOIA policies, procedures, and compliance; and identify additional areas for improvement in the FOIA process through recommendations to Congress and the President. OGIS will also work to implement GAO’s recommendations of creating performance measures and goals for its mediation services, as well as to build on its review program. SPECIAL THANKS OGIS thanks the 113th Congress for its support of the FOIA Ombudsman’s office: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Patrick Leahy and Ranking Member Senator Chuck Grassley, and their personal and committee staffs, particularly Lydia Griggsby; Representative Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Ranking Member Representative Elijah Cummings, and Representative John Mica, chairman of that committee’s Subcommittee on Government Operations, and their personal and committee staffs, particularly Krista Boyd and Tegan Millspaw; and Wendy Ginsberg of the Congressional Research Service. We extend a special thanks to our colleagues at the National Archives, including David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States; Jay Trainer, Executive Head for Agency Services; and National Archives General Counsel Gary M. Stern and Assistant General Counsel Jean Whyte for their support of OGIS’s work. We also thank Susan Ashtianie, Susan Cummings, and Mary Drak for their guidance and help with the GAO report. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_025870