President Obama on the “Freedom of Information Act” in his Administration

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

Freedom of Information Act

A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency. As Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” In our democracy, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which encourages accountability through transparency, is the most prominent expression of a profound national commitment to ensuring an open Government. At the heart of that commitment is the idea that accountability is in the interest of the Government and the citizenry alike.

The Freedom of Information Act should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails. The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears. Nondisclosure should never be based on an effort to protect the personal interests of Government officials at the expense of those they are supposed to serve. In responding to requests under the FOIA, executive branch agencies (agencies) should act promptly and in a spirit of cooperation, recognizing that such agencies are servants of the public.

All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in FOIA, and to usher in a new era of open Government. The presumption of disclosure should be applied to all decisions involving FOIA.

The presumption of disclosure also means that agencies should take affirmative steps to make information public. They should not wait for specific requests from the public. All agencies should use modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their Government. Disclosure should be timely.

I direct the Attorney General to issue new guidelines governing the FOIA to the heads of executive departments and agencies, reaffirming the commitment to accountability and transparency, and to publish such guidelines in the Federal Register. In doing so, the Attorney General should review FOIA reports produced by the agencies under Executive Order 13392 of December 14, 2005. I also direct the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to update guidance to the agencies to increase and improve information dissemination to the public, including through the use of new technologies, and to publish such guidance in the Federal Register.

This memorandum does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

The Director of the Office of Management and Budget is hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA

President Obama orders Coast Guard and other Agencies to “Open Up and be Transparent”

This Blog (both current and former owners) has been stonewalled by Coast Guard when it comes to the Freedom of Information Act.  CGblog.org owned and operated by Peter Stinson has been met with similar denials.  On his second day in office, President Obama signed out a Presidential Memorandum stating his policy and thoughts on “Transparency and Open Government.”  The Commandant of the Coast Guard has used the phrase “Transparency breeds self correcting behavior,” in the face of his own agency blocking FOIA requests at a record level.  President Obama says “Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing.”
FY 2008 with 1,044 pending FOIA requests.  Of the 19 agencies making up Homeland Security, only Customs and Board Protection and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services left more pending FOIA requests on the table.  Of the 5,273 requests received by Coast Guard in 2008, 1,512 (or 28%) were denied for various reasons.   Admiral Allen reversing his agencies past practices in the face of the President’s direction and the Open Government Act of 2008 remains to be seen.

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT: Transparency and Open Government

My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.

Government should be transparent. Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset. My Administration will take appropriate action, consistent with law and policy, to disclose information rapidly in forms that the public can readily find and use. Executive departments and agencies should harness new technologies to put information about their operations and decisions online and readily available to the public. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public feedback to identify information of greatest use to the public.

Government should be participatory. Public engagement enhances the Government’s effectiveness and improves the quality of its decisions. Knowledge is widely dispersed in society, and public officials benefit from having access to that dispersed knowledge. Executive departments and agencies should offer Americans increased opportunities to participate in policymaking and to provide their Government with the benefits of their collective expertise and information. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public input on how we can increase and improve opportunities for public participation in Government.

Government should be collaborative. Collaboration actively engages Americans in the work of their Government. Executive departments and agencies should use innovative tools, methods, and systems to cooperate among themselves, across all levels of Government, and with nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individuals in the private sector. Executive departments and agencies should solicit public feedback to assess and improve their level of collaboration and to identify new opportunities for cooperation.

I direct the Chief Technology Officer, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Administrator of General Services, to coordinate the development by appropriate executive departments and agencies, within 120 days, of recommendations for an Open Government Directive, to be issued by the Director of OMB, that instructs executive departments and agencies to take specific actions implementing the principles set forth in this memorandum. The independent agencies should comply with the Open Government Directive.

This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

This memorandum shall be published in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA

New homes for old Coast Guard Ships

by Michael DeKort

Navy Times is reporting

An aging fleet

To cut maintenance costs and extend the service life of the Coast Guard’s surface ships, the service plans to rotate some of its vessels’ home ports, especially those in harsh climates. The fleet includes:

High-endurance cutters: Twelve 378-foot cutters entered the fleet in the 1960s, with the entire class undergoing a modernization from 1980 to 1992.

Medium-endurance cutters and 110-foot patrol boats: A mission effectiveness project to refurbish systems and boost quality of life for crews is underway for the cutters, which are at or near the end of their service lives”

I wonder would this effort have been necessary or as critical and wide spread if the Deepwater program were not 5 or more years or 50 ship projects behind?  Quite a few NSCs and FRCs should have been in the fleet by now. The 110s were supposed to be replaced not refurbished.  The severity of the issue got worse as a result of incompetence and bad leadership.  Of course no one in the Coast Guard leadership will admit that or take responsibility for their part.

The Commandant actually ordered people to stop saying “we are doing more with less” to saying “we are doing more with the same.”  Of course that statement is not only a misrepresentation of the facts but it co-opts the men and women of the Coast Guard and directs them to participate in the spin. That is shameless.

Coast Guard Will Not Get a Four Star Admiral as Vice Commandant

Coast Guard has been mostly silent on its much touted plans for a fourth star for the services Vice Commandant. The last update from the Coast Guards office of Governmental Affairs was in April 2008.  Both the House and Senate versions of the bill failed.  What’s not clear, and maybe our readers can provide insight is who this affects the Modernization effort.  The four new 3 Star positions were dependent on this measure passing.

Section 210 – of H.R. 2830 read

Requires that the Coast Guard Vice Commandant have the grade of admiral while serving as Vice Commandant.

Replaces provisions authorizing the appointment of Atlantic and Pacific area commanders with provisions authorizing appointment of a Deputy Commandant for Mission Support, a Deputy Commandant for National Operations and Policy, a Commander for the Force Readiness Command, and a Commander of Operations Command, all to have the grade of vice admiral while serving in those positions.

Removes provisions allowing the appointment of a Coast Guard Chief of Staff.

This bill was proposed in a previous session of Congress. Sessions of Congress last two years, and at the end of each session all proposed bills and resolutions that haven’t passed are cleared from the books. Rep. James Oberstar [D-MN] can reintroduce this bill under a new number in the next session.

Father on Okinawa honors fallen son with military service

CAMP FOSTER OKINAWA, Japan-Lt. Cmdr. Bill Krissoff, 60, joined the Navy Medical Corps after his son, 1st Lt. Nathan Krissoff, died in Iraq from wounds he had suffered from a road side bomb explosion. He will be deploying with Combat Logistics Battalion 4, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, to Iraq. , Lance Cpl. Thomas W. Provost, 1/27/2009 12:18 PM

by Cpl. Andrew Avitt  , Marine Corps Bases Japan

CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, Japan —

He thought it was a prank when he received a message on his answering machine from the White House. Later that month Bill Krissoff, a 60-year-old orthopedic surgeon from Truckee, Calif., his wife Christine and his son, 1st Lt. Austin Krissoff, were in a small room face-to-face with the president.

Surrounded by the families of fallen service members, President George W. Bush asked if there was anything he could do to soothe the loss of their son, 1st Lt. Nathan Krissoff.

Nathan died in Iraq from injuries suffered after a roadside bomb exploded December 2006.

“Yes Mr. President,” Krissoff replied. “I want to join the Navy Medical Corps, but they told me I’m too old.”

At 60 years old, 19 years over the enlistment age limit, Krissoff needed waivers to enlist.

“The recruiter told me that it would take up to a year,” he said, adding that even then his chances didn’t look good.

After his meeting with the president, Krissoff got his waiver in two days.

Krissoff had set his sights on joining the military several months before meeting with the president.

“Fathers usually inspire their sons, I was inspired by both of my sons,” he said. Though one can only imagine the kind of reactions he got for aspiring to serve at his age. Krissoff said he was determined. Even Austin was skeptical at first, he said.

He closed his orthopedic practice in Truckee that year and was commissioned as an officer in the Navy Reserve in November.

“After my commission I got a card from my son, it said ‘welcome to the fight,’” Krissoff said with a smile. “He certainly has come around.”

Now, Lt. Cmdr. Krissoff said he enjoys practicing medicine in the military and prefers it to his civilian practice.

“In military medicine you are functioning as a team, taking care of each other. You aren’t worried whether he has insurance or about hospital politics,” he said.

Krissoff, in shape and upbeat for a man in his early 60’s, said he liked the idea of working out of a tent.

He is currently enrolled in the pre-deployment training program at 4th Marines Regimental Training Schools at Camp Schwab, Okinawa. He is slated to augment Combat Logistics Battalion 4, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, on their upcoming deployment to Iraq.

“I didn’t want to work in another brick building, I wanted to deploy,” Krissoff said, explaining his desired role in green-side medicine. “I wanted to do operational medicine; to be a surgeon of Marines.”