Amendments

The Privacy Act Amendments of 1974
The 1976 Government in the Sunshine Act amendments to the FOIA
The 1986 Omnibus Anti-Drug Abuse Act amendments to the FOIA
Reagan's Executive Order limiting the FOIA
Expansion of the FOIA during the Clinton Administration
The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996
Bush's Executive Order limiting the FOIA
The Intelligence Authorization Act of 2002 amending the FOIA

The Privacy Act Amendments of 1974
Following the Watergate scandal, Congress passed a law that amended and strengthened the Freedom of Information Act. Following the Watergate scandal, President Gerald R. Ford wanted to sign Freedom of Information Act-strengthening amendments in the Privacy Act of 1974, but concern about leaks (expressed by his chief of staff Donald Rumsfeld and deputy Richard Cheney) and legal arguments that the bill was unconstitutional (expressed by government lawyer Antonin Scalia, among others) persuaded Ford to veto the bill, according to declassified documents in 2004. However, Congress voted to override Ford's veto, giving the United States the core Freedom of Information Act that is still in effect today.

These amendments to the FOIA regulate government control of documents which concern a citizen. It gives one "(1) the right to see records about oneself, subject to the Privacy Act's exemptions, (2) the right to amend that record if it is inaccurate, irrelevant, untimely, or incomplete, and (3) the right to sue the government for violations of the statute including permitting others to see one's records unless specifically permitted by the Act." In conjunction with the FOIA, the PA is used to further the rights of an individual gaining access to information held by the government. The Justice Department's Office of Information and Privacy and federal district courts are the two channels of appeal available to seekers of information.