The Peru Gazette

Bill Owens Press Release

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, Congressman Bill Owens introduced a bill that aims to make the legislative process more open and transparent to the American people. H.R. 5571, the Legislative Transparency Act of 2010, would require that any bill or amendment introduced in the House include tracked changes showing clearly what section of current law is being amended.

“The American people deserve complete transparency in government, and this legislation will help us to make the lawmaking process open and easy to understand for everyone,” Owens said.  “The general public should not be left in the dark about how pending bills propose changes to our nation’s laws, and this bill will help shed some light on how our new laws affect us.”

Currently, when legislation is introduced, the corresponding section of the law being amended is not shown, making it necessary to research the U.S. Code to determine exactly what changes the legislation would make. This makes it difficult for the general public to fully understand what laws are being changed, why they are being changed, and to get a better understanding of the intended and unintended consequences.

H.R. 5571 requires that any bill or amendment introduced in the House must include tracked changes showing the current statutes the legislation proposes to change.  Similar requirements already exist in the constitutions of several states, including Hawaii, Kansas, Illinois and Nevada.

This is the latest in a series of initiatives from Congressman Owens to include an increased level of transparency and openness in the federal government. In March, Owens voted to pass H.R. 946, the Plain Language Act, legislation to require federal government agencies to write public documents like tax returns, federal college aid applications, web sites, and Veterans Administration forms in simple, easy-to-understand language, and H.R. 1387, the Electronic Message Preservation Act, to require the White House to preserve all electronic communications and correct past deficiencies in the preservation of email by the White House and federal agencies.

Congressman Owens has also introduced H.Res. 1166, a resolution directing the Clerk of the House of Representatives to establish and implement a process under which members of the public may view House Floor and House Committees proceedings online.

The Legislative Transparency Act was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

More information can be found at http://owens.house.gov <http://owens.house.gov> .