By IRN
WASHINGTON D.C. – The Freedom of Information Act turned 50 years old on Monday – and one U.S. congressman from Illinois thinks it’s even more needed today that it was in 1966.
Rodney Davis, a Republican representing District 13, said there always is a need for more government transparency. He said that is why he spearheaded efforts to ensure all members of Congress listed their expenses in a searchable document.
“Frankly, the House of Representatives is the only institution in Washington, D.C.,, that does this, and I would urge the executive branch and the judicial branch to do this same thing because taxpayers deserve the right to know how their tax dollars are being spent,” Davis said.
FOIA was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 4, 1966.Making FOIA work with today’s technology to make government information available at the public’s fingertips is important, he said. “The FOIA has been used to hold all elected officials at all levels of government accountable for the money that they spent,” he said. “I subscribe to the theory that more sunshine is good, and that is exactly what this law does and has done over the past 50 years.”
