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H.R. 1099: Consistent Legal Expectations and Access to Records Act

This bill, known as the Consistent Legal Expectations and Access to Records Act (CLEAR Act), aims to clarify and expand the application of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to certain federally established entities. Specifically, the bill proposes the following key changes:

Amendment to FOIA's Scope

The bill amends Section 552(f)(1) of Title 5 of the United States Code to explicitly include any entity established under Section 3161 of the same title among those to which FOIA applies. This means that these federally established entities will be subject to the same transparency and public access requirements as other federal agencies.

Impact of the Amendment

The amendment will ensure that requests for records made under FOIA can be applied to these entities starting from the date the bill is enacted, regardless of when the records being requested were created.
This change aims to enhance accountability by allowing the public greater access to information held by these entities.

Purpose and Intent

The primary intent of the bill is to promote transparency in government operations by ensuring that entities established by the federal government are not exempt from the public's right to access records. By doing so, the bill aims to establish consistent legal expectations regarding information availability and encourage governmental accountability.