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The Broadest FOIA Request Ever: A Records Horror Story



THE BROADEST FOIA REQUEST EVER:  A RECORDS HORROR STORY
by Michael Ravnitzky

NOTE:  Please read this carefully.

Not long ago, a requester, A PUBLIC OFFICIAL, filed a Freedom of Information
Act request with the Office of the Secretary at the Department of the
Interior for records on the following subjects:

"A copy of all documents containing information on the following subjects .
. .:  * the current and potential application of the federal immigration
laws to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (the Mariana
Islands (the Commonwealth); * the current and potential application and
 enforcement of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, including its minimum
wage provisions, to the Commonwealth; * the current and potential
application and enforcement of the federal Occupational Safety and Health
Act In the Commonwealth: * the current and potential application and
enforcement of the federal Internal Revenue Code in the Commonwealth;  * the
current and future duty free treatment of products of the Commonwealth under
General Note 3(a)(iv) of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States; * the Commonwealth's apparel and garment industry; * the use of
alien labor in the Commonwealth; * human rights in the Commonwealth; *
relations between the Federal Government and the Commonwealth; * the impact
of migration by citizens of the freely associated states of the
Commonwealth; * the decision of the Clinton Administration to recommend that
Congress make federal immigration, naturalization, and minimum wage laws
applicable to the Commonwealth; * Governor Froilan C. Tenorio; and
 * the Government of the Commonwealth.   Without limiting my request for
documents from other offices within the Department, I am specifically
interested in documents related to the above-listed subjects that
originated, or were prepared or received, in the following offices : Office
of the Secretary, including documents originating, prepared, or received by
or at the direction of Secretary Bruce Babbitt or Under Secretary John
Garamendi; Office of Insular Affairs including documents originating,
prepared, or received by or at the direction of Allen Stayman, Ferdinand
(Danny) Aranza, or Jeff Schorr; Office of Congressional and Legislative
Affairs; Office of Policy Analysis; and Office of the Solicitor.

Again without limiting my request  for all documents related to the
above-listed subjects, I am specifically interested in documents that were
sent to, or were received from, in the following individuals or entities;
Federal Executive Branch: Department of Justice, including U.S. Attorneys in
Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands and, particularly, Mr. Fred Black and
his staff; Federal Bureau of investigation; Immigration and Naturalization
Service, including Johnny Hair (local representative on Saipan)
and Mr. Gisser (of the Guam and/or Honolulu offices); Department of State,
including the U.S. Embassies in the Republic of the Philippines and the
Peoples Republic of China; Department of Labor, including
Mr. Trotter and Steven DeSmith; U.S. Customs Service; Jeffrey Farrow;
Commission on Immigration Reform, including Executive Director Susan Martin
and member Richard Estrada; Congress: Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the Senate: Members and staff; Committee on Resources of the
House of Representatives: Members and staff, including Manase Mansur;
Senator Daniel Akaka and staff, including Esther Kiaaina, Representative
George Miller and staff; Labor: The AFL-CIO and its affiliates; National
apparel, garment, and textile unions; Hawaii Local 5 of the Hotel and
Restaurant Workers union; Victor Perez (labor union representative in the
Norther Mariana Islands); Media: reporters, editors, and managers of: Inside
Edition (nationally syndicated TV newsmagazine); Los Angeles Times; Reader's
Digest, including Henry Hurt, reporter; national media in the United States;
national media in the Republic of the Phillippines; local media In Guam
 and the Northern Mariana Islands: Commonwealth Legislature members and
staff, including the President of the Senate Jesus R. Sablan and Speaker of
the House of Representatives Diego T. Benavente; Resident Representative to
the United States for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Juan
N. Babauta and staff, including consultant Adam Turner.  Republic of the
 Phillippines: Executive branch departments and officials, including the
Department of Labor; Members of the Philippine Congress, including Senator
Gloria M. Arroyo and congressional staff; Jesus Varela (Philippine labor
attaché in the Northern Mariana Islands) ; Human rights groups; Guam:
Government of Guam, including Governor Carl Gutierrez; Commission on
Self-Determination, including Executive Director Leland Bettis; Others:
Filipino human rights groups In Hawaii; national Filipino human rights
groups; Sebastian Aioots attorney, Boboy Doromol (quote human rights
activist unquote); Wendy Doromol (human rights activist); Eric Gregolre
(human rights activist); Phil Kaplan ("human rights activist"); Robert
Rudolph; and Lorl Sonken.

This request was granted case number 98-C-0009.

If you wish to obtain a copy of the request letter, suitable for framing, as
well as the response letters, the administrative file materials or even the
responsive records, you can contact:

Sue Ellen Sloca, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior,
MS 1414 MIB, Washington, D.C.  20240.  Telephone:  202-208-3552 or 6045.
Fax:  202-208-5048.  Email:  osfoia@nbc.gov

I'm certain that Ms. Sloca and her colleagues recall this request vividly
and would be able to fill in the details.

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