Groups Call for Vote on Transparency Measure

POGO joins open government groups in supporting a vote on the Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act. The bill would require online publication of reports mandated by Congress.

February 18, 2014

By POGO Staff

Download

To:

Speaker John Boehner
U.S. House of Representatives
H-232, The Capitol
Majority Leader Eric Cantor
U.S. House of Representatives
H-329, The Capitol 1705
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
U.S. House of Representatives
H-204, The Capitol
Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer
U.S. House of Representatives
Longworth House Office Building
VIA EMAIL
February 18, 2014

Dear Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Cantor, Democratic Leader Pelosi, and Democratic Whip Hoyer:

We, the undersigned organizations, are writing to encourage the House to consider the bipartisan Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act (H.R. 1380) during the week of February 24th, when other measures touching upon executive branch oversight and transparency also will be considered, or at the earliest opportunity thereafter.

ACMRA, originally introduced by Rep. Mike Quigley, was favorably reported by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in May 2013, has the support of the Committee on House Administration, and has been lauded again and again by transparency organizations. The measure is the embodiment of common sense.

Under the legislation, any report required by law to be submitted to Congress that is releasable under the Freedom of Information Act must be posted on a website managed by the Government Printing Office. The reports would become publicly available within 30 days of their transmission to Congress. Unlike now, where reports are often impossible to find, ACMRA creates one central repository for all reports that would be easily searchable by subject matter, submitting agency, the law requiring the report, and additional key terms.

Congressionally mandated reports contain a wealth of information on federal activities. A comprehensive accounting for all mandated reports to Congress, including whether they have been received in a timely fashion, will further efforts to make government more transparent and accountable.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you further. Please contact Daniel Schuman, policy director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, at 202-408-5565 or [email protected].

Signed by: