Political Quotes

“every year, at this time of the year, Sunshine Week is held around the birthday of James Madison--not only a former President but one of our greatest Founding Fathers and the acclaimed ``Father of the Constitution.'' Sunshine Week is a critical reminder of the need for transparency and open government. And our government is not as open as it should be. President Madison famously said that a great difficulty in forming a government operated by imperfect people was that you must oblige it-- meaning the government--to control itself. Well, amen to what Madison said. As a conservative, I have worked especially hard on Madison's challenge, making sure that the government controls itself. One way to do that is to limit the size and scope of the government. It is hard to control a government that does everything but make your bed and tuck you in to sleep. Another check on out-of-control government is separation of powers-- the same separation of powers when you study the essentials of American government. Congress doesn't execute laws. The President and the executive agencies shouldn't try to make laws. And neither should our courts. To control a government as big as ours, it takes a lot of very bright light shining on every Agency and Office. And instead of 1 week called Sunshine Week, we ought to have 365 days a year in which we have sunshine on our government's operation. I have long supported the Freedom of Information Act.…”