Untitled (U.S. Department of State)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

1. Reports, studies, and other such records from Jan 1 2017 to the date of search analyzing or discussing the amount of annual funding needed to improve compliance with the Freedom of Information Act.

2. Emails, memos, and other such records in which FOIA staff have requested additional resources and the discussions of and responses to those requests.

I request expedited processing because the federal government is about to enter into the annual budgeting process. I am primarily engaged in the dissemination of information because I am an attorney who primarily represents FOIA requesters seeking to obtain information to be disseminated to the public.

I request a fee waiver because: (1) these records concern the activities of government, namely, FOIA compliance and budgeting needs; (2) this information is meaningfully informative on the budgeting process; (3) this information will help the public understand the extent to which federal departments and agencies are seeking sufficient funding for FOIA compliance; (4) the information will significantly contribute to understanding whether departments and agencies are seeking and receiving adequate funding for FOIA compliance; (5) I have no commercial interest in these records, but rather, will use these records to contribute to the public discourse on FOIA funding; (6) the significant public interest in these records outweighs my non-existence personal commercial interest.

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,

Matthew Topic