Friday, December 14, 2007

Shining a light on National Secrets....

From Secrecy News:

OBAMA: NEW WEB SITE WILL HELP CHALLENGE "NATION OF SECRETS"

Senator Barack Obama praised the launch of a new government website
yesterday that tracks federal contract awards.

The new website -- USAspending.gov -- constitutes "an important
milestone on the path to greater openness and transparency in the
Federal Government," he said.

http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2007/obama121307.html

"I have been very troubled by the extent to which America has become a
nation of government secrets," said Senator Obama. "More and more
information is kept secret or made intolerably complicated and
inaccessible. More and more decisions are made behind closed doors with
access limited to insiders and lobbyists."

"USAspending.gov along with watchdog groups will give us all tools to
help buck that trend," he said.

The new website resulted from legislation enacted last year, the
Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, that was sponsored
by Sen. Obama and Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK).

The Office of Management and Budget developed the website with
technical support from the non-profit OMB Watch, along with advocacy
support from the Sunlight Foundation and other organizations.

The web site does not include information on classified spending and
contracting.

[Use link above to continue reading]

Wrap...

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