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About the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
How to Make a FOIA Request 
Government Guidance, Directives and Statistics on FOIA

The FOIA and President Lyndon Johnson
 
On July 4, 1966, President Lyndon Johnson reluctantly—see his statement below identifying the tension between protection and dissemination of information—signed into law the Freedom Of Information Act.  This landmark legislation enshrined in law the public’s right of access to federal government records.  The bill that Johnson signed was the effort of several legislators, principal among them US Rep. John Moss (D-CA), a leading consumer advocate, who had begun his crusade of investigations, reports and hearings on government information policy in 1955.  Officially, the statute superseded Section 3 of the Administrative Procedures Act, the provision for regulation of government information.  Below are links to documents highlighting the legislative and political history of the initial FOIA.
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President Lyndon Johnson’s Statement Upon Signing the FOIA (Press Release, Office of the White House Press Secretary, "Statement by the President Upon Signing S.1160”, dated July 4, 1966 

 
Text of Senate Bill 1160 Passed by the US Congress and Signed by President Lyndon Johnson as The Freedom of Information Act 

 
Excerpt from Congressional Record of June 20, 1966, “Clarifying and Protecting the Public’s Right to Know”, (Debate and Vote of the US House of Representatives on Senate Bill 1160, Featuring a Statement by US Rep. John Moss)
 
About the National Security ArchiveSearch the Archive WebsiteArchive NewsDeclassified Documents OnlineArchive PublicationsFreedom of Information ActInternship OpportunitiesDoing Research at the Archive