Obama signs bill easing access to government records

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama signed into law Thursday measures to give the public greater access to government documents and records under the nearly half-century-old Freedom of Information Act.

The law also places a 25-year sunset on the government's ability to withhold documents that shed light on how the government makes decisions.

Before he signed Senate bill S. 337 during a brief Oval Office ceremony, Obama said it would make permanent some of the changes the administration already has made to make government more open and responsive.