Federal

FOIA Fix Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 791 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill modifies the Freedom of Information Act, which is a law that lets Americans request information from federal agencies. The bill adds new restrictions on who can request certain government records and creates new categories of information that agencies can withhold from the public.

Who It Affects

Federal agencies that receive information requests. Non-citizens and foreign entities seeking government records. People who help non-citizens or foreign entities make information requests. U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents requesting their own immigration court records.

Key Provisions

• Agencies cannot give government records to people who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, companies based outside the United States, or companies owned by entities based in China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Syria or Venezuela's Maduro regime (Sec. 2(9)(A)). • Helping someone who is prohibited from requesting records to make a request can result in fines up to $10,000 per violation and up to one year in prison (Sec. 2(9)(B)). • Agencies must write new rules to enforce the restrictions on who can request records (Sec. 2(9)(C)). • Agencies can choose how to provide requested records if they reasonably believe providing them the way requested would expose unrelated information or create a security risk (Sec. 2(10)). • Agencies can refuse to release blueprints, schematics, formulas and similar technical information about emerging or foundational technologies if public interest in disclosure does not outweigh damage to the United States (Sec. 2(b)(10)).

What Changes

If this becomes law, federal agencies will be required to deny freedom of information requests from non-citizens, foreign companies and certain subsidiaries. People helping such requesters can face criminal penalties. Agencies will have more flexibility in deciding how to deliver requested records and can withhold more technical information related to emerging technologies.

Important Definitions

None defined in the bill text.

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 488 To modify the Freedom of Information Act, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 16, 2023 Mr. RUBIO (for himself and Mr. COTTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To modify the Freedom of Information Act, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘First Opportunity for 4 Information to Americans Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘FOIA Fix 5 Act of 2023’’. 6 SEC. 2. FOIA REQUESTS. 7 Section 552 of title 5, United States Code, is amend- 8 ed— 9 (1) in subsection (a)— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S488.IS S488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 488 IS (A) in paragraph (3)(A), by inserting ‘‘or 1 paragraph (9)’’ after ‘‘subparagraph (E)’’; and 2 (B) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(9)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (D), an 4 agency may not make any record available under this sub- 5 section to any requester that— 6 ‘‘(i) is an individual who is not a citizen of the 7 United States or an alien lawfully admitted for per- 8 manent residence; 9 ‘‘(ii) is an entity that does not have a principal 10 place of business or headquarters located in a State, 11 the District of Columbia, or any territory or posses- 12 sion of the United States; or 13 ‘‘(iii) is an entity that is a subsidiary of an enti- 14 ty with a principal place of business or headquarters 15 located in— 16 ‘‘(I) the People’s Republic of China; 17 ‘‘(II) the Russian Federation; 18 ‘‘(III) the Democratic People’s Republic of 19 Korea; 20 ‘‘(IV) the Islamic Republic of Iran; 21 ‘‘(V) the Republic of Cuba; 22 ‘‘(VI) the Syrian Arab Republic; or 23 ‘‘(VII) the regime of Nicola´s Maduro in 24 Venezuela. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S488.IS S488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 488 IS ‘‘(B) Knowingly assisting, conspiring, or abetting a 1 request for information under this section on behalf of an 2 individual or entity that is prohibited from receiving the 3 information under subparagraph (A) is punishable by a 4 fine of up $10,000 per violation and not more than 1 year 5 in prison. 6 ‘‘(C) Each agency shall promulgate regulations as 7 necessary to carry out subparagraph (A). 8 ‘‘(D) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to a requester 9 that is seeking official copies of the immigration court pro- 10 ceedings of the requester. 11 ‘‘(10) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 12 section, an agency may determine the manner in which 13 a request is fulfilled under this subsection if the agency 14 has a reasonable belief that fulfilling the request in the 15 manner requested by the requester— 16 ‘‘(A) is likely to result in the exposure of mate- 17 rial or information that is not responsive to the re- 18 quest, including any data describing the structure, 19 data elements, interrelationships, or other character- 20 istics of electronic records otherwise responsive to 21 the request; or 22 ‘‘(B) poses a material security risk to the agen- 23 cy or another entity in the Federal Government.’’; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S488.IS S488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 488 IS (2) in subsection (b)— 1 (A) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 2 the end; and 3 (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the pe- 4 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(10) records or information, such as blue- 7 prints, schematics, formulae, technical expertise, or 8 other similar information that is susceptible to re- 9 verse engineering— 10 ‘‘(A) the disclosure of which is likely to 11 damage the interests of the United States; 12 ‘‘(B) that is materially related to the study 13 of an emerging or foundational technology iden- 14 tified by the Department of Commerce; and 15 ‘‘(C) for which the interest of the public in 16 disclosure does not outweigh the interests de- 17 scribed in subparagraph (A).’’. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Mar 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S488.IS S488 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

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