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Representative Stephen Horn to Receive POGO's "Good Government Award"
June 14, 2002
The nonprofit Project On Government Oversight (POGO) will honor retiring Representative Stephen Horn (R-CA) with the "Good Government Award" this Monday, June 17th. Representative Horn has long been a strong advocate for public access to government information. Representative Horn is the first recipient of POGO's "Good Government Award," created to recognize outstanding leaders who have succeeded in making government more open and accountable to the citizenry, and less beholden to special interests.
In 1996, Representative Horn cosponsored a bill (HR-3802) that expanded FOIA to include electronic information. He subsequently held hearings on how fully government agencies were complying with E-FOIA as Chair of the Government Efficiency, Financial Management, and Intergovernmental Relations Subcommittee.
Representative Horn has also spoken out against the abuse of secrecy by executive branch agencies and the willingness of many Congressional committees to ignore their duties and not allow such secrecy. He has forced agencies such as the CIA and Department of Defense to release documents so that Congress could effectively perform oversight. In hearings on the CIA's refusal to submit a survey of their cyber-security, Representative Horn stated, "The agency is assaulting Congress's constitutional responsibility to oversee executive branch activities. The CIA believes it is apparently above that basic principle in our Constitution. We do not agree."
Representative Horn has sponsored and cosponsored many bills that increase oversight of Federal agencies. Most recently, in June 2001, he introduced H.R.2331, which provides for oversight of the activities of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by the Comptroller General. He has held hearings on oversight of the Government Accounting Office, the Department of Defense, the CIA, and the IRS to name just a few.
Representative Horn has also been a strong supporter of meaningful campaign finance reform. Representative Horn refuses to accept contributions from PACs and in the 2000-2001 financial year, the quality of his financial disclosures was rated 100% by the Center for Responsive Politics. In March, 1998 Representative Horn held hearings on oversight of the Federal Election Commission and criticized the FEC's slow disclosure of campaign finance information. On the FEC's enforcement, he stated, "Instead of promoting voluntary compliance with campaign finance laws, it seems as if the FEC's enforcement process is promoting the attitude that negligent or willful violation of campaign finance laws will result in no meaningful consequences."
At the award ceremony, POGO will also give its 2002 "Beyond the Headlines Award" to Scott Armstrong, an investigative journalist and executive director of the Information Trust. In giving the award, POGO particularly recognizes Mr. Armstrong's tireless efforts to make government more transparent and open to the public.
