September 23, 2008

Transparency coast to coast

This past weekend I was in Baltimore at a national open government retreat working on recommendations for the next President on how to make the federal government more transparent and accountable.

Among the 70 individuals at the retreat were representatives from OMB Watch, National Security Archive, ACLU, Society of Professional Journalists, OpenTheGovernment.org, League of Women Voters and Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press to name a few.

The House and the Senate passed bills to protect federal employees who blow the whistle on waste, fraud and abuse by veto proof margins last year (H.R. 985, S. 274), but have yet to agree on a final bill. Now is the time to tell negotiators, leadership, and other interested Members of Congress that passing a strong bill -- especially one that extends protection to whistleblowers in the FBI and intelligence agencies -- before Congress goes on recess is a priority!

Rep. Barney Frank has drafted a bill to make sure that the law passed against Internet gambling does not lead to widespread surveillance of online financial transactions. Pokernews.com describes it this way:

The bill, entitled the “Payment Systems Protection Act of 2008,” prohibits the U.S.

From our friends at the ACLU:

ACLU Asks Court To Strike Down Unconstitutional Spying Law (9/12/2008)

Dragnet Surveillance Puts Innocent Americans' Telephone Calls And Emails At Risk

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CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org