Support the Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act
Dear Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Cantor, Democratic Leader Pelosi, and Democratic Whip Hoyer:
We, the undersigned organizations, are writing to encourage the House to consider the bipartisan Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act (H.R. 1380) during the week of Feb, 24, when other measures touching upon executive branch oversight and transparency also will be considered, or at the earliest opportunity thereafter.
ACMRA, originally introduced by Rep. Mike Quigley, was favorably reported by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in May 2013, has the support of the Committee on House Administration, and has been lauded again and again by transparency organizations. The measure is the embodiment of common sense.
Under the legislation, any report required by law to be submitted to Congress that is releasable under the Freedom of Information Act must be posted on a website managed by the Government Printing Office. The reports would become publicly available within 30 days of their transmission to Congress. Unlike now, where reports are often impossible to find, ACMRA creates one central repository for all reports that would be easily searchable by subject matter, submitting agency, the law requiring the report, and additional key terms.
Congressionally mandated reports contain a wealth of information on federal activities. A comprehensive accounting for all mandated reports to Congress, including whether they have been received in a timely fashion, will further efforts to make government more transparent and accountable.
We welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you further. Please contact Daniel Schuman, policy director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, at 202-408-5565 or [email protected].
Sincerely yours,
American Association of Law Libraries
American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression
Center for Responsive Politics
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
Data Transparency Coalition
Demand Progress
eCitizens.org
GovAlert.me
Government Accountability Project (GAP)
iSolon.org
Judicial Watch
National Coalition for History
National Security Counselors
OpenTheGovernment.org
Project on Government Oversight
R Street
Society of Professional Journalists
Sunlight Foundation
Taxpayers for Common Sense
cc: Darrell Issa, Chair, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Elijah Cummings, Ranking Member, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Candice Miller, Chair, Committee on House Administration
Robert Brady, Ranking Member, Committee on House Administration
