Document Destruction Policies and Guidelines (U.S. Department of State)

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

Records relating to any document destruction guidelines and policies. Please note that I am *not* requesting record retention policies, but rather materials on the shredding and destruction (whether physical or electronic) of documents and other records, including but not limited to those on the Research and Development Subcommittee's Document Destruction Working Group and other similar or related groups.

I am a member of the news media and request classifcation as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities for AND Magazine, MuckRock and Glomar Disclosure and have an open arrangement with each. My articles have been widely read, with some reaching over 100,000 readers. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Emma Best

I have more than adequately described the records sought for someone familiar with them to identify and locate the records in question, which is all that is required by the FOIA statute and caselaw. Please process the request, as you are required to do.