After a full month of secret holds and back-room manuevering, of personal conflicts and idle rhetoric, a bill promoting transparency and disclosure of a vast array of government spending has finally passed one chamber of Congress. Late last night, during a period when all previous secret holds on the bill had been removed, Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) acted quickly and S. 2590 was quickly approved unanimously by the Senate.

The bill now moves to the House with little time left before Congress breaks for the last pre-election campaign push. The House passed a weaker version of S. 2590 earlier this year that would disclose less than half of the information that would be available under the Senate bill.

The House needs to take up the Senate bill and pass it quickly so the president can sign the bill into law this year. Full disclosure of federal speading must include all available information - including federal contract data. It's time to shed sunlight on federal spending.