Sweigert v. Army - FOIA Fee Waiver Request to STRICOM of July 27, 1998

28 July 1998
Source: David Sweigert

See related documents: http://jya.com/dgsfiles.htm

David G. Sweigert
P.O. Box 390
Annapolis Junction, MD 20701

July 27, 1998

Via certified mail: Z-286-119-955

DEPARTMENT OF ARMY
SIMULATION, TRAINING AND INSTRUMENTATION COMMAND
12350 RESEARCH PARKWAY
ORLANDO, FL 32826

SUBJ: FOIA REQUEST NO. 98-007

Commanding General:

1. This letter responds to your letter dated June 29, 1998; file number 98-007.

2. In that letter your agency requests a check payable to the Treasury of the United States, for $198.10, to cover the costs for search ($248.10 minus $50 for 1st 2 hours) and reproduction ($14.25 minus 1st 100 copies = $0) for the original March 20th, 1998 request.

3. This letter respectfully requests a FEE WAIVER of FOIA fees pursuant to DoD 5400.7-R, subpart 6-103, which generally requires your agency to follow the four fee waiver decision factors:

whether the subject of the requested records concerns the operations or activities of the government;
whether the disclosure is likely to contribute significantly to an understanding of specific government operations or activities;
(3) whether disclosure of the requested information will contribute to the understanding of the public at large, i.e., the general public must benefit from disclosure; and (4) whether [the requester] has a commercial interest in the magnitude of which is sufficiently large, in comparison with the public interest in disclosure, that disclosure is "primarily" in [the requester's] interest.

In support of my request I offer your agency the following information:

I have already received the records in question, which describe the operations of U.S. Army STRICOM; how the command plans information technology purchases, investigate users of the local area network, etc.
Disclosure of this information shall clarify for the general public specific operations of the command; the general public would certainly appreciate the money spent on information technology at the command [see 6/13/1996 MIS Board minutes approving $6,678K for office automation projects, etc.
This information shall be posted to a world wide web site that receives monthly accesses in the five figure range [25,000+]. You may wish to review the proposed site: http://www.jya.com.
The requested information does not provide any commercial interest to me, to the contrary the revelation of this information benefits the taxpayer primarily.

As you know "The basic purpose of [the] FOIA is to ensure an informed citizenry, vital to the functioning of a democratic society, needed to check against corruption and to hold the governors accountable to the governed." NLRB v, Robbins Tire & Rubber Co., 437 U.S. 214, 242 (1978). Therefore, a FEE WAIVER is requested.

6. Further, it is undisputable that the purpose of the FOIA is disclosure, government openness and accountability, discouraging government secrecy, and promoting a democratic way of governing. See McDonnell v. United States, 4 F.3d 1227, 1251 (3d Cir. 1993); (" '[T]he FOIA is designed to pierce the veil of administrative secrecy and to open agency action to the light of public scrutiny.' " (quoting Anderson v. Department of Health and Human Services, 907 F.2d 936, 941 (10th Cir.1990) (internal quotations omitted in McDonnell)); In re Department of Justice, 999 F.2d 1302, 1312 (8th Cir. 1993) ("A healthy distrust of government, and a corresponding suspicion of government secrecy, is the underlying premise of [the] FOIA."); Maricopa Audubon Society v. United States Forest Service, 923 F. Supp. 1436, 1438-39 (D.N.M. 1995) ("'The predominant objective of [the] FOIA is disclosure. Congress enacted [the] FOIA to ensure that the public has access to government information so that it can scrutinize the government's performance of its statutory duties and thereby promote governmental honesty.'") (quoting Hale v. United States Department of Justice, 973 F.2d 894, 897 (10th Cir. 1992) (citing EPA v. Mink, 410 U.S. 73, 79-80 (1973), vacated on other grounds, 509 U.S. 918 (1993)); see also Office of Information and Privacy, U.S. Department of Justice, Freedom of Information Act Guide & Privacy Act Overview 3 (Sept.1997 ed). Therefore, a FEE WAIVER is requested.

Sincerely,

D. G. Sweigert