Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I address my colleagues for the purpose of submitting a resolution that will bring about greater transparency in government. I think my colleagues know I have a long history in promoting this sort of transparency. I believe the more people are aware of what we are doing in the Senate and the Congress, or in Washington generally, the more accountable we are. The more accountable we are, the better job we will do. I hope everybody agrees that is a pretty simple concept. Today, the purpose I come to the Senate floor is to submit a resolution that will improve transparency in this body and hold us all more accountable to the people we serve; in other words, reminding the people that we work for them; they do not work for us. This resolution requires the Secretary of the Senate to make filed amendments publicly available as soon as they are made available to Members and staff. I will show, in just a minute, that they are almost immediately made available to Members and staff. So why not the public? In this day and age you would think this was already happening. We live in a world of 24-hour news. We live in a world of instant coverage over the Internet of just about everything. Yet we have not been allowing the general public to get this information real time. My proposal would add more transparency to how the Senate works and what we are debating on the Senate floor. Some might question whether this is necessary.…”