The House of Representatives yesterday adopted a slate of open government bills by large, veto-proof majorities in the face of sharp opposition from the Bush White House.
“Today, Congress took an important step towards restoring openness and transparency in government,” said Rep. Henry Waxman, who expeditiously moved the bills through his Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
“Over the past six years, the Bush Administration has done everything it can to operate in secret, to avoid public scrutiny, and to limit congressional oversight,” Rep. Waxman said. “I am pleased that Congress is reversing this course by passing four critically important good government bills with strong bipartisan support.”
The vote coincided with Sunshine Week, a national campaign by media organizations and others to promote values of openness and accountability.
The House debate on amendments to the Freedom of Information Act, adopted by a vote of 308-117, is here. The White House statement of opposition is here (pdf).
The debate on provisions to strengthen whistleblower protections (adopted 331-94) is here. The White House opposition is here (pdf).
The House debate on amendments to the Presidential Records Act which, among other things, would nullify President Bush’s executive order on the subject (adopted 333-93) is here. And the White House statement of opposition is here (pdf).
A fourth bill adopted by the House would require increased disclosure of donors to presidential libraries.
The bootcamp brought more than two dozen next-generation open-source practitioners from across the United States to Washington DC, where they participated in interactive modules, group discussions, and hands-on sleuthing.
Fourteen teams from ten U.S. states have been selected as the Stage 2 awardees in the Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC), a national competition that helps communities turn emerging research into ready-to-implement solutions.
The Fix Our Forests Act provides an opportunity to speed up the planning and implementation of wildfire risk reduction projects on federal lands while expanding collaborative tools to bring more partners into this vital work.
Public health insurance programs, especially Medicaid, Medicare, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), are more likely to cover populations at increased risk from extreme heat, including low-income individuals, people with chronic illnesses, older adults, disabled adults, and children.