The total number requests under the freedom of information
act for fiscal 2003 rose 36 percent over 2002, to an all-time
high of 3,266,394, according to a summary of FOIA reports
for fiscal 2003 from federal departments and agencies
released by the Department of Justice.
It said more than half of the increase was due to an unusually
large number of requests to the Social Security Administration
— it more than doubled over the past year and increased
12-fold over the past five years — with the remainder being
mostly requests to the Department of Health and Human
Services, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of
Agriculture, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
VA reported the highest number of requests, 1,854,166, a 23
percent increase over 2002, followed by DHS with 161,117 and
HHS with 146,257, according to the summary.
