saxman Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 Berta I never heard anything personally from the Secretary but it was confirmed that he got my email because the VA person told me that the Secretary emailed them about my request. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rootbeer22 Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) GatoryNavy: Yes..It is Different from but sometimes confused with FOIA. The FOIA is a set of laws, rules and regulations in which you as a citizen may ask for and receive information from your government. It's meant to promote transparency between a govenment and it's citizens by allowing some governmnet information to be released. There are limits to the informaiton like military and state secrets, some elements of government contracts as well as others. There are currently 10 exemptions in which information may be withheld but for the most part it is amazing what can be gained/found by using FOIA. That's one of the reasons why it's good to know your rights when someone either gives you bad info or is telling you something that is not always accurate? Also, FOIA comes with legal/appeal rights and by regulation, FOIA requests are required to be answered within 20 business days. Taking 2 -3 years to get a C-file under FOIA is just not right on a number of levels? There's a few exceptions with the 20 days rule but an agency "being busy" is not in accordance with the law. At some point, someone is going to get the Department of Justice involved which is the proponent agency for FOIA with some of these requests. The Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, establishes a code of fair information practices that governs the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of information about individuals that is maintained in systems of records by federal agencies. A system of records is a group of records under the control of an agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifier assigned to the individual. The Privacy Act requires that agencies give the public notice of their systems of records by publication in the Federal Register. Click here to see a list of DOJ systems of records and their Federal Register citations. The Privacy Act prohibits the disclosure of a record about an individual from a system of records absent the written consent of the individual, unless the disclosure is pursuant to one of twelve statutory exceptions. The Act also provides individuals with a means by which to seek access to and amendment of their records, and sets forth various agency record-keeping requirements. Edited January 22, 2015 by rootbeer22 GatorNavy and MarkInTexas 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notorious Kelly Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Thanks for being proactive and letting us know of your positive results, Saxman. Good luck in your battle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArNG11 Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I am still not understanding the delay in fulfilling a request from a Veteran for his C-file. I submitted my request and within 7 days. I had what I thought was my entire C-file. When I obtained an attorney, they lollygaged all overt the place. First they gave him access to VBMS but didn't give him a correct password. Then when his firm requested a copy of my C-file it took 4 months. Why. Why the delays. To me it seems like they, the VA are getting in the way due process. How the hell they get away with is I don't understand. Obstruction of justice anyone. I am at a turning point whether to write an e-mail to the Honorable Secretary. However, my patience is running is out, at the same time I don't want to jeopardize what I have managed to accomplish so far. What a mess. What to do. If emailing him works then I might just do so. Eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorNavy Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) thanks rootbeer. I don't understand why they can get away with the wait. No accountability because there is no one manager that is willing to do anything I suppose. Edited January 22, 2015 by GatorNavy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notorious Kelly Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 thanks rootbeer. I don't understand why they can get away with the wait. No accountability because there is no one manager that is willing to do anything I suppose. That is EXACTLY why they get away with it - No Accountability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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