One year ago the Justice Department began applying presumption of disclosure for all FOIA requests. Since that time the disturbing 2008 trend - a reduction in this Department's rate of disclosures - has been completely reversed. In 2009, the Department released more than 1,000 additional full releases and nearly 1,000 additional partial releases than in the year before.

Many of the Department's efforts toward a more open government fall under the purview of Associate Attorney General Perrelli's control. Enormous strides have been made during the last year as exemplified by the policy changes and expanded releases within the Office of Information Policy.

This speech, exactly one year after the President's executive order for transparency and accountability, congratulated those responsible for some of the key changes within the Department and highlighted these accomplishments. "We can all be encouraged by the recent breakthroughs we've witnessed across the Justice Department: The Drug Enforcement Administration decreased its FOIA backlog by more than 40%; the Office for U.S. Trustees saw a reduction of more than 70%; and the Office of the Pardon Attorney eliminated its backlog altogether. The Foreign Claims Settlement Commission created a publicly searchable database; the FBI developed a system to promote consistency in key operations; and our Criminal Division improved the age of its oldest request by 13 years. That's real progress. But it's just a snapshot of what has been - and what will be - accomplished here."