Government Transparency

U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Transparency Caucus, introduced a bipartisan bill to make all reports written for Congress by federal agencies available to the public. The Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act creates a single website where the public can easily search, sort and download all congressional reports from agencies ranging from the Health and Human Services to the Department of Education.

U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), offered an amendment to increase funding for the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board by $2 million to match the agency’s request so that they can fulfill their mission to defend the privacy rights of American citizens during the Appropriation Committee’s consideration of the Fiscal Year 2017 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations bill.

U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), Co-Chair of the Transparency Caucus, and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement on a newly released Government Accountability Office report on video and audio coverage of Supreme Court and other appellate court proceedings. The report cites stakeholders who state that the benefits of such coverage include enhancing public access to the courts, educating the public on the judiciary, and providing a useful window into how courts think about the issues in a case. Some of the stakeholders interviewed for the report also raised concerns that coverage of portions of a court’s proceedings may be distorted by the media.

U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), Co-Chair of the Transparency Caucus, offered an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2017 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill that would require the Congressional Research Service (CRS) to publish its reports on the U.S. Government Publishing Office’s (GPO) website, serving as a one-stop shop for public information.

Reps Quigley and Issa held a bipartisan briefing to discuss the implementation of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act) and the challenges Congress faces as it works to bring greater transparency to the federal budget process.