The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was signed into law in 1966 after a twelve-year campaign to have it introduced and passed by Congress. Seen as controversial at the time of its passage, it was strengthened by Congressional amendment in 1974 in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Now widely seen as one of the most important pieces of 20th century legislation, the FOIA Improvement Act was signed into law by President Obama in June 2016, and is designed to further improve and modernize the FOIA, particularly with respect to digital records.