Making Congress More Transparent And Accountable

Press Release

Making Congress More Transparent And Accountable

In keeping with her commitment to make the government more transparent in its actions and accountable to the people, Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack introduced H. Res. 1675 on Wednesday, September 29. Bono Mack's legislation would amend the rules of the U.S. House of Representatives to require live internet broadcasts of all markups of bills and resolutions in committees and subcommittees and provide for the texts of these measures to be made accessible in a timely manner on the official, public websites.

"I whole-heartedly believe that Congress should carry out the will of the people and fulfill its constitutional role to serve as a check against the overextended power of government. And to do this, we need to make government more transparent and accountable in its actions. This is why I introduced H. Res. 1675, which would amend House rules to require House committees and subcommittees to make all legislative language readily available on their websites and broadcast all markups live on the internet," stated Bono Mack.

H. Res. 1675 would modernize the operations of the House of Representatives by using available communications technology, which on many levels has transformed and increased the efficiency of the American society, to enhance the public participation in American democracy. By increasing the public's ability to participate in our legislative process we can improve the quality of proposed legislation by allowing interested citizens the opportunity to review the process of a committee or subcommittee amending legislation. Often times, especially in the House of Representatives, legislation is primarily crafted on the committee level. If passed, this resolution will grant citizens the opportunity to witness and participate in the entire legislative process -- start to finish.

"I believe this resolution would help restore the public's trust in this law-making body, by ensuring that the legislative process is conducted with openness, order, and dignity," remarked the Congresswoman.

In addition to the live internet broadcasts of committees and subcommittees amending legislation, H. Res. 1675 would provide that the text of any bill, amendments, or chairman's mark under consideration be available by text to the public on the official website of the committee.

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