Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta Delivers Remarks at Sunshine Week 2022 Celebration
By DOJ, Office of Public Affairs, Justice News, Mar. 14, 2022
Thank you, Bobby for your warm introduction. And Bobby, I truly appreciate your leadership of the Office of Information Policy (OIP) and the guidance that you provide to the Department of Justice and agencies across the federal government as we fulfill our obligations under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
It is a pleasure to join you and to help kick off the department’s annual celebration of Sunshine Week. Every year, we celebrate the importance of government transparency during the week of President James Madison’s birthday. President Madison emphasized the fundamental importance of access to government information and an engaged citizenry to our democracy. In 1882, he famously wrote, “A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”
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We at the department are always looking to improve our FOIA implementation. I want to thank the Attorney General for his leadership and support of the FOIA mission both here at the department and across government, and we are excited that later this week, the Attorney General will be issuing new guidelines that underscore our commitment to administering the FOIA with a presumption of openness.
Read more here.
[N.B. James Madison died in 1836 and thus wrote nothing in 1882, contrary to the AAG’s prepared remarks. Thanks to a loyal follower for pointing out that the quote originates from an 1822 letter from Madison to the Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky.]