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Gmatsaiyan
Posts: 749
Updated on: 01 Jul 2020, 22:43
Originally posted by Gmatsaiyan on 26 Nov 2018, 08:59.
Last edited by Sajjad1994 on 01 Jul 2020, 22:43, edited 6 times in total.
Last edited by Sajjad1994 on 01 Jul 2020, 22:43, edited 6 times in total.
Updated - Complete topic (516).
Kudos
Bookmarks
Question 1
C
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
65%
(hard)
Question Stats:
49% (03:07) correct
51%
(03:14) wrong
based on 403
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 2
A
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
55%
(hard)
Question Stats:
47% (01:08) correct 53%
(01:18) wrong
based on 456
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Question 3
A
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
85%
(hard)
Question Stats:
41% (01:48) correct 59%
(01:47) wrong
based on 454
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
A 1973 Supreme Court decision and related Senate hearings focused congressional criticism on the 1966 Freedom of Information Act. Its unconditional exemption of any material stamped “classified”—i.e., containing information considered relevant to national security—forced the Court to uphold nondisclosure in EPA v. Mink. Justice Potter Stewart explained that the Act provided “no means to question a decision to stamp a document ‘secret.’” Senate witnesses testified that the wording of certain articles in the Act permitted bureaucrats to discourage requests for newsworthy documents.
In response, a House committee drafted HR 12471, proposing several amendments to the Act. A provision was reworded to ensure release of documents to any applicant providing a “reasonable description”—exact titles and numbers were no longer to be mandatory. The courts were empowered to review classified documents and rule on their status. The Senate companion bill, S 2543, included these provisions as well as others: standardization of search and copy fees, sanctions against noncompliant federal employees, and a provision for nonexempt portions of a classified document to be released.
The Justice and Defense departments objected to the changes as “costly, burdensome, and inflexible.” They argued that the time limits imposed on response “might actually hamper access to information.” The Pentagon asserted that judicial review of exemptions could pose a threat to national security. President Ford, upon taking office in August 1974, concurred.
HR 12471 passed in March 1974; S 2543 was approved in May after the adoption of further amendments to reduce the number of unconditional exemptions granted in 1966. The Hart Amendment, for instance, mandated disclosure of law enforcement records, unless their release would interfere with a trial or investigation, invade personal privacy, or disclose an informer’s identity. This amendment provoked another presidential objection: millions of pages of FBI records would be subject to public scrutiny, unless each individual section were proven exempt.
Before submitting the legislation to Ford, a joint conference of both houses amalgamated the two versions of the bill, while making further changes to incorporate Ford’s criticisms. The administration of disciplinary sanctions was transferred from the courts to the executive branch; provisions were included to accord due weight to departmental expertise in the evaluation of “classified” exemptions. The identity of confidential sources was in all cases to be protected. Ford nevertheless vetoed the bill, but the veto was overridden by a two-thirds vote in both houses.
In response, a House committee drafted HR 12471, proposing several amendments to the Act. A provision was reworded to ensure release of documents to any applicant providing a “reasonable description”—exact titles and numbers were no longer to be mandatory. The courts were empowered to review classified documents and rule on their status. The Senate companion bill, S 2543, included these provisions as well as others: standardization of search and copy fees, sanctions against noncompliant federal employees, and a provision for nonexempt portions of a classified document to be released.
The Justice and Defense departments objected to the changes as “costly, burdensome, and inflexible.” They argued that the time limits imposed on response “might actually hamper access to information.” The Pentagon asserted that judicial review of exemptions could pose a threat to national security. President Ford, upon taking office in August 1974, concurred.
HR 12471 passed in March 1974; S 2543 was approved in May after the adoption of further amendments to reduce the number of unconditional exemptions granted in 1966. The Hart Amendment, for instance, mandated disclosure of law enforcement records, unless their release would interfere with a trial or investigation, invade personal privacy, or disclose an informer’s identity. This amendment provoked another presidential objection: millions of pages of FBI records would be subject to public scrutiny, unless each individual section were proven exempt.
Before submitting the legislation to Ford, a joint conference of both houses amalgamated the two versions of the bill, while making further changes to incorporate Ford’s criticisms. The administration of disciplinary sanctions was transferred from the courts to the executive branch; provisions were included to accord due weight to departmental expertise in the evaluation of “classified” exemptions. The identity of confidential sources was in all cases to be protected. Ford nevertheless vetoed the bill, but the veto was overridden by a two-thirds vote in both houses.
Q1). According to the passage, the Justice and Defense departments opposed the proposed revision of the Freedom of Information Act on the grounds that it
A) was an attempt to block public access to information.
B) would violate national security agreements.
C) would pose administrative problems.
D) was an attempt to curtail their own departmental power.
E) would weaken the president’s authority.
Q2). Which of the following statements, if true, supports the assertion that “judicial review of exemptions could pose a threat to national security” (Highlighted)?
A) Judges lack the expertise to evaluate the significance of military intelligence records.
B) Many of the documents that are presently stamped “classified” contain information that is inaccurate or outdated.
C) It would be time-consuming and expensive for judges to review millions of pages of classified records.
D) Some judges are likely to rule on exemptions in accordance with vested interests of political action groups.
E) The practice of judicial review of exemptions will succeed only if it meets with presidential approval.
Q3). Which of the following statements is in accordance with President Ford’s position on disclosure of FBI records?
A) FBI records should be exempt from the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.
B) FBI records should only be withheld from release if such release constitutes a threat to national security.
C) It would be too expensive and time-consuming to identify exempt sections of FBI records.
D) Protection of the identity of confidential sources is more important than the protection of personal privacy or investigative secrecy.
E) FBI records should not be reviewed section by section before being released to the public.
Gmatsaiyan
Posts: 749
26 Nov 2018, 21:42
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Analysis
A whole lot of detail about the Freedom of Information Act. We learn that Congress didn’t like it.Congress responds by proposing some laws. Don’t worry about what those laws are until you get a question about them.Now the executive branch gets in the game. Seems that it didn’t like the changes.The laws were passed anyway, and the president was not thrilled.Congress tried to compromise with the president, but he still vetoed the bill. It passed anyway, however.
Passage Map
Here is a sample Passage Map you might have created as you took notes on each paragraph:
¶1: F.I.A. criticized by Congress
¶2: Congress proposes new laws
¶3: President doesn’t like proposed changes
¶4: Laws pass anyway
¶5: Compromise rejected; law passes
Topic: Freedom of Information Act
Scope: Changes to
Purpose: Describe the history of
Gmatsaiyan
Posts: 749
Updated on: 27 Nov 2018, 01:54
Originally posted by Gmatsaiyan on 26 Nov 2018, 21:44.
Last edited by Gmatsaiyan on 27 Nov 2018, 01:54, edited 2 times in total.
Last edited by Gmatsaiyan on 27 Nov 2018, 01:54, edited 2 times in total.
Kudos
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Official Answers and Explanations
Q1). (C)
Question Type: Reading Comprehension
Question Topic: Detail
Lines 17–18 say that the Justice and Defense departments objected to revision as “costly, burdensome, and inflexible.” They opposed revision, in other words, for administrative reasons.
According to lines 18–19, the Justice and Defense departments argued that changes “might actually hamper access to information.” But they did not go so far as to suggest that the revision was an
attempt to limit public access to information (A). Although the Pentagon thought that revision might pose national security problems, it didn’t argue that changes violated specific national security agreements (B). (D) and (E) are beyond the scope: Neither the Justice nor the Defense department protested revision on the grounds that it would weaken either its power or presidential authority. Choice (C) is correct.
Q2). (A)
Question Type: Reading Comprehension
Question Topic: Strengthen
The Pentagon doesn’t offer much justification for its assertion that judicial review would cause national security problems. You know that the president agreed, but you don’t learn why. You need
an answer that explains the connection between judges and national security dangers. (A) does this; if judges don’t have the necessary expertise, they might release information that would endanger national security. (B) and (C) don’t explain the danger posed by judicial review. (D) may seem tempting, but no explicit link is drawn between political interests and security concerns. (Compare that to the use of “military intelligence” in (A).) Same problem with (E)—there’s no reason given to think that presidential approval necessarily has anything to do with national security. Perhaps the president would disapprove for other reasons.
Q3). (A)
Question Type: Reading Comprehension
Question Topic: Application
Lines 27–29 indicate that Ford was opposed to the release of FBI records. He didn’t want them to be open to public scrutiny. (B) and (E)—180 answer choices—wrongly suggest that Ford was open to the idea of a release of FBI records. (C) is incorrect. Based on lines 27–29, you can infer that Ford perceived barriers to exemption of individual FBI records, but you can’t assume that expense was one of these barriers. There is no hint in the passage that Ford believed it was more important to protect confidential sources than personal privacy or investigative secrecy (D). Paragraph 4 tells you that all three are protected by the Hart amendment, but no distinction like (D)’s is drawn. Choice (A) is correct.
Question Type: Reading Comprehension
Question Topic: Detail
Lines 17–18 say that the Justice and Defense departments objected to revision as “costly, burdensome, and inflexible.” They opposed revision, in other words, for administrative reasons.
According to lines 18–19, the Justice and Defense departments argued that changes “might actually hamper access to information.” But they did not go so far as to suggest that the revision was an
attempt to limit public access to information (A). Although the Pentagon thought that revision might pose national security problems, it didn’t argue that changes violated specific national security agreements (B). (D) and (E) are beyond the scope: Neither the Justice nor the Defense department protested revision on the grounds that it would weaken either its power or presidential authority. Choice (C) is correct.
Q2). (A)
Question Type: Reading Comprehension
Question Topic: Strengthen
The Pentagon doesn’t offer much justification for its assertion that judicial review would cause national security problems. You know that the president agreed, but you don’t learn why. You need
an answer that explains the connection between judges and national security dangers. (A) does this; if judges don’t have the necessary expertise, they might release information that would endanger national security. (B) and (C) don’t explain the danger posed by judicial review. (D) may seem tempting, but no explicit link is drawn between political interests and security concerns. (Compare that to the use of “military intelligence” in (A).) Same problem with (E)—there’s no reason given to think that presidential approval necessarily has anything to do with national security. Perhaps the president would disapprove for other reasons.
Q3). (A)
Question Type: Reading Comprehension
Question Topic: Application
Lines 27–29 indicate that Ford was opposed to the release of FBI records. He didn’t want them to be open to public scrutiny. (B) and (E)—180 answer choices—wrongly suggest that Ford was open to the idea of a release of FBI records. (C) is incorrect. Based on lines 27–29, you can infer that Ford perceived barriers to exemption of individual FBI records, but you can’t assume that expense was one of these barriers. There is no hint in the passage that Ford believed it was more important to protect confidential sources than personal privacy or investigative secrecy (D). Paragraph 4 tells you that all three are protected by the Hart amendment, but no distinction like (D)’s is drawn. Choice (A) is correct.
