U.S. House Passes Four Open Government Bills
During Sunshine Week 2007
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The House of Representatives on March 14 passed four measures during Sunshine Week that promote and preserve open government, including a bill to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act. "Today, Congress took an important step towards restoring openness and transparency in government," said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and a co-sponsor of the bills. |
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"Over the past six years, the Bush administration has done everything it can to operate in secret, to avoid public scrutiny, and to limit congressional oversight. I am pleased that Congress is reversing this course by passing four critically important good government bills with strong bipartisan support," he added.
The bills passed and the votes were: H.R. 1309 (308-117) to strengthen FOIA and improve public access to government information; H.R. 1255 (333-93) to nullify an executive order limiting access to presidential records; H.R. 985 (331-94) granting improved protection to federal whistleblowers; and H.R. 1254 (390-34) to require the release of presidential library donor information.
For more information, including links to the bills, visit the Committee's Web Site.
Many states are now adopting the Open Document Format and Open Source Software. This would seem to fit right in with the agenda of "Open Government".
How does your organization promote the use of Open Source Software such as Linux?
Posted by: John Bailo | March 15, 2007 at 05:34 AM