US President George W. Bush has issued an executive order directing federal agencies to improve public access to government information.
The order, signed by Bush late on Wednesday, follows five years of often bipartisan criticism of his administration on grounds of excessive secrecy, particularly since the 2001 terrorist attacks. It directs some of the changes, though not all, that have been proposed by members of Congress from both parties to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act.
Under the order, each agency is to appoint a chief Freedom of Information Act officer to oversee compliance with the act, create a service center to handle information requests and set up a Web or telephone hotline so that the status of requests can be checked.
Within six months, the agencies must complete reviews of their operations under the act and have a plan to reduce backlogs and improve service.
The act, which was adopted in 1966, guarantees the public's right to obtain information from federal agencies, subject to nine exemptions including national security.
Bush's order addressing it drew cautious praise from open-government advocates and some lawmakers, who said additional changes were needed.
"Up until now this administration has strongly resisted transparency and accountability," said Meredith Fuchs, general counsel of the National Security Archive at George Washington University, which obtains and publishes thousands of previously secret documents each year.
"We can only hope that this is a sign that it intends to start being more responsive to the public," she said.
The public filed 4,080,737 requests under the Freedom of Information Act last year, double the number of five years earlier, according to a review by OpenTheGovernment.org, a coalition of groups opposing what they deem excessive secrecy. Many agencies have a backlog and take months or even years to produce documents in response to complex requests.
Senators John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, and Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, who have proposed a more sweeping overhaul of the act, welcomed Bush's order.
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