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WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced legislation on Thursday to establish an advisory Commission on Freedom of Information Act Processing Delays. The 16-member commission would be charged with reporting to Congress and the President its recommendations for steps that should be taken to reduce delays in the processing of requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the committee's senior Democrat, is the bill's co-sponsor. More information is available at http://www.cornyn.senate.gov/FOIA"I'm pleased to commence another bipartisan effort with Sen. Leahy to reinforce our national commitment to freedom of information and openness in government," Sen. Cornyn said. "This is an especially appropriate time to promote this important cause, because starting this Sunday, America will observe the first-ever national Sunshine Week – a celebration of our nation's founding principles and commitment to freedom of information and openness in government. It is also long past due." Sen. Leahy, who has been a longtime champion of FOIA in Congress, said: "Agency delay has long been a nettlesome problem in FOIA implementation. Many FOIA requests are processed efficiently, but others drag out inexplicably, sometimes for years. Some agencies have not filled requests from the late 1980s, before the collapse of the Soviet Union, even though the requestors have repeated their requests for the information. The Faster FOIA Act responds to the most common concerns of FOIA requestors by offering ways to solve these problems for the good of agencies and requestors."Sens. Cornyn and Leahy introduced the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2005 (OPEN Government Act, S. 394) on Feb. 16. The legislation will promote accountability, accessibility, and openness in government, principally by strengthening and enhancing the Freedom of Information Act. Sen. Cornyn will chair a hearing on March 15 to examine the OPEN Government Act in the Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who chairs the Terrorism subcommittee, agreed to let Sen. Cornyn chair this hearing on the Cornyn-Leahy bill. The last time Congress approved major reforms to FOIA was nearly a decade ago, and the Senate Judiciary Committee has not convened an oversight hearing on compliance issues since April 30, 1992. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which shares jurisdiction over federal government information, has not held a FOIA oversight hearing since 1980. The hearing comes during the first-ever national Sunshine Week, a dialogue about the public's right of access to government information, which begins on March 13. More information can be found at www.sunshineweek.org. --Highlights of the Cornyn-Leahy Faster FOIA Act—The Faster FOIA Act of 2005 would establish an advisory Commission on Freedom of Information Act Processing Delays. The Commission would be charged with reporting to Congress and the President its recommendations for steps that should be taken to reduce delays in the administration of the Freedom of Information Act.The Commission would be comprised of 16 members. Twelve of them would be appointed by members of Congress – three by the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, three by the chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, and three each by the ranking minority member of the two committees. These four members of Congress would each be required to appoint at least one member to the Commission with experience submitting FOIA requests on behalf of nonprofit research or educational organizations or news media organizations, and at least one member with experience in academic research in the fields of library science, information management, or public access to Government information. The remaining four positions on the Commission would be held by designees of the Attorney General, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Archivist of the United States, and the Comptroller General.The Commission would be responsible for producing a study to identify methods to reduce delays in the processing of FOIA requests and to ensure the efficient and equitable administration of FOIA throughout the federal government. The Commission would also be charged with examining whether the system for charging fees and granting fee waivers under FOIA should be reformed in order to reduce delays in processing fee requests. The report would be due no later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, and would include recommendations for legislative and administrative action to enhance FOIA performance. The Commission would expire thirty days after the submission of the report.Cornyn was presented with the James Madison Award in 2001 for his efforts as Texas Attorney General to promote open government by the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. Sen. Cornyn served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.Leahy sponsored the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments, which updated FOIA for the Internet age, and in 1996 he was installed in the Freedom of Information Act Hall of Fame.