Case 1:10-cv-01712-RMC Document 7-1 Filed 02/16/11 Page 1 of 4

UNITED STATES DISTRlCT COURT

FOR THE DISTRlCT OF COLUMBIA
CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY >
AND Enncs IN WASHINGTON >

vs. > No. 10-01712

u.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, et 01. >

>

I, Elise Cook, hereby declare as follows:

1. I am a Management and Program Analyst within the

Freedom of Information Act ("FOlA") Service Center ("FSC") of

the U.S. Department of Education's ("Department") Office of

Management ("OM"). In my role as a Management and Program

Analyst, I assist in the processing and drafting of responses

to requests made under FOrA, 5 U.S.C. § 552.

2. I was assigned within the FSC as a FOIA Public Liaison

for FOIA Request No. lO-01704-F.

3. I submit this declaration in support of the

Department's motion for summary judgment in the above-

captioned matter. The information provided below is based

upon my personal knowledge and my personal review of the

documents at issue.

4. FOIA Request No. 10-01704-F was received by FSC on

July 23, 2010. The request was submitted by Citizens for

Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ("CREW") and included

a request for a fee waiver.

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S. Based on the information submitted by the requester,

the FSC denied the request for a fee waiver by letter dated

July 29, 2010. Because CREW had indicated that it was not

willing to pay any fees associated with the request, the

request was administratively closed.

6. On August 17, 2010, after further review of the

information submitted by CREW, the FSC informed CREW that its

request for a fee waiver was granted. The request was

reopened and assigned to the following Departmental offices

for processing on August 18, 2010: the Office of Communication

and Outreach ("OCO"), the Office of Legislative and

Congressional Affairs ("OLCA"), the Office of Postsecondary

Education ("OPE"), and the Office of the Undersecretary

("OUS"). OUS sent the request to the Office of Planning,

Evaluation and Policy ("OPEPD") on November 3, 2010.

7. FSC identified the offices listed in paragraph 6 as

offices likely to have responsive records based on FSC's

understanding of the subject areas raised in FOIA Request No.

10-01704-F. Consistent with its established practices, the

FSC relied upon the assigned offices - which have superior

subject matter knowledge of the issues raised in the FOIA

request - to identify any additional offices that are likely

to have records responsive to the request. With the exception

 Case 1:10-cv-01712-RMC Document 7-1 Filed 02/16/11 Page 3 of 4

of OUS's identification of OPEPD, no additional offices were

so identified.

8. On November 23, 2010, the FSC provided CREW with an

interim response to its FOIA request, comprised of 42 pages of

records from OPEPD and 8 pages of records from OCO. These

records were provided to CREW in full. The interim response

also notified CREW that OLCA had no records responsive to the

request.

9. On December 3, 2010, the FSC provided CREW with its

final response to the FOIA request. This response consisted

of 1,354 pages of records from OPE and 506 pages of records

from OUS. These records contained some redactions pursuant to

5 U.S.C. §§ 552(b)(5) and (b)(6). Please note that the FSC's

transmittal letter to CREW contained a typographical error-

although the letter indicated that the enclosed CD contained

1,174 total pages of responsive records, the FSC actually

provided CREW with 1,860 total pages of responsive records in

this final release.

10. On or around December 22, 2010, while processing an

unrelated FOIA request, OPE identified one document that may

have been responsive to CREW's FOIA request that was not

provided on December 3, 2010. This record was provided in

full to CREW on December 22, 2010.

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I declare under penalty of perjury th?~the foregoing is true

and correct. Executed on February /0, 2011

~ti?L
ELISE COOK
Management and Program Analyst
Office of Management
U.S. Department of Education