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Monday, September 11, 2006
S. 2590 Update
The Bush Administration is showing its support for S. 2590. From an Office of Management and Budget press release:
Today, OMB Director Rob Portman applauded the Senate for its unanimous
approval of S. 2590, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.
"Federal funding should be used to achieve measurable results for Americans, and wasteful
and ineffective spending should be eliminated. That's why we welcome the Senate's
unanimous approval of a bill to increase transparency and accountability. I particularly
appreciate the leadership of Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Senator Barrack Obama
of Illinois in spearheading this effort.
"The House — led by Majority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri and Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia
— has approved a similar measure, H.R. 5060, the Federal Spending and Assistance Bill.
This bill would also improve the quality and accessibility of information about federal
spending.
"American taxpayers benefit from having the necessary information to hold government
accountable for results. The Administration is committed to the goals of these two measures,
and I look forward to working with the House and Senate to enact a bill that accomplishes
them.
And the House should pass S. 2590 soon. From BNA ($$):
The House is expected to act during the week of Sept. 11 on legislation to create a searchable Web site tracking both governmental grants and contracts, under compromise language unveiled Sept. 8 after Senate passage of a database bill.
The language bridging the main difference between House and Senate bills appeared to remove one of the final hurdles to bipartisan efforts to boost "fiscal transparency" by opening up more details of how the federal government spends money, including legislative earmarks. Until S. 2590 was approved by unanimous consent late Sept. 7, those efforts had been blocked by procedural maneuvers in the Senate that the efforts' supporters feared could kill the proposal.
"Our legislation creates a transparent system for reviewing these expenditures so that Congress, the press, and the American public have the information they need to conduct proper oversight of the use of our tax dollars. The package we've agreed to move requires the Administration to establish searchable databases for both grants and contracts," said House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), and Rep. Thomas Davis (R-Va.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee in a joint statement Sept. 8.
Posted by Matt Lewis
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