Political Quotes

“Mr. President, this body was last in session during Sunshine Week, but the principle of government transparency is one that does not expire. So I would like to take a few moments now to reiterate my support for that timeless principle. Open government is good government. And Americans have a right to a government that is accountable to its people. In 1978, following the lessons learned from the Watergate scandal, Congress created Inspectors General--or IGs--to be our eyes and ears within the executive branch. These independent watchdogs are designed to keep Congress and the public informed about waste, fraud, and abuse in government. But they also help agency leaders identify problems and inefficiencies that they may not be aware of. So IGs are critical to good governance and to the rule of law. But in order for these watchdogs to do their jobs, IGs need access to agency records. That is why the law authorizes IGs to access ``all'' records of the agency that they're charged with overseeing. However, since 2010, more and more agencies have refused to comply with this legal obligation. This obstruction has slowed down far too many important investigations--ranging from sexual assaults in the Peace Corps to the FBI's exercise of anti-terrorism authorities under the PATRIOT Act. Last July, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel aided and abetted the obstruction by issuing a memo defending it.…”