Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, I proudly rise in support of my Congressional Budget Justification Transparency Act, H.R. 22.

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Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, it is a bipartisan bill that addresses the lack of transparency around the documents that explain why executive agencies are requesting funds from Congress. These justifications shed light on the work and priorities of the Federal Government far more effectively than high-level spending figures.

Mr. Speaker, in 2018 and 2019, Congress encouraged OMB to publish all executive branch congressional budget justification materials on a centralized web portal. However, there is no legal requirement for congressional budget justifications to be posted on a centralized portal or on agency websites.

For these reasons, agencies are inconsistent in posting congressional budget justifications online, making them difficult to access because they are either not publicly available or are scattered across the internet.

Mr. Speaker, my bill will strengthen Federal Government transparency by requiring Federal agencies to publish their annual budget justifications online in a central location. This will better allow oversight of our government and allow the American people to verify that their taxpayer dollars are being used wisely to invest in their communities.

All Illinoisans and Americans should get the transparency they deserve on government spending, and the bill does just that.

Mr. Speaker, I recognize Chairwoman Maloney and Ranking Member Comer for their unwavering support for this bill and for prioritizing this legislation early on in the 117th Congress. I thank them again for their leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill.

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