Published:
Portman, Hassan, Comer, Maloney Introduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Legislation to Improve Transparency of Federal Advisory Committees
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Rob Portman
(R-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee, and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) introduced the Federal Advisory
Committee Transparency Act, legislation that will impose stricter ethics
requirements on advisory committee members, require agencies to make more
information about committees public, make the procedures for establishing a
committee and selecting members more transparent, and extend the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (FACA) to cover additional advisory committees that
are currently exempt. Advisory committees are generally composed of individuals
outside government who advise, and consult with, federal agencies on
policy-making. U.S. Representatives James Comer (R-KY), Ranking Member of
House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY),
Chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform have introduced
companion legislation in the House of Representatives. The text of the bill
is here.
“American taxpayers deserve greater
transparency and accountability from their government, and improving the
transparency of federal advisory committees is essential to accomplishing that
goal,” said
Ranking Member Portman.
“I’m particularly pleased that this bipartisan measure will strengthen the
independence of federal advisory committees and close loopholes that permit
agencies to skirt existing transparency requirements. At the end of the day,
American taxpayers deserve evidence-based, rather than interest-based,
decisions by their government, and this bill will help to ensure that.”
“This bipartisan legislation will
increase the transparency of federal advisory committees that can play a
significant role in advising how Americans’ taxpayer dollars are spent,” said Senator Hassan. “This
bill is one common-sense way to make our government work better on behalf of
the American people, and I look forward to continuing to work with my
colleagues on both sides of the aisle to strengthen transparency and tackle
waste, fraud, and abuse.”
“The federal government must serve and
be accountable to the American people, but bureaucratic hurdles and shadow
governing often get in the way. By amending the Federal Advisory Committee Act,
we are ensuring greater transparency in how federal advisory committees operate
and select their members so Congress and taxpayers can better see, understand,
and hold accountable these committees for acting in the best interest of our
country and its citizens,” said
Ranking Member Comer.
“I appreciate Chairwoman Maloney, Senator Portman, and Senator Hassan’s
partnership in introducing this commonsense legislation, and I strongly urge
both Senate and House leadership to urgently move this bill through both
chambers.”
“This bipartisan legislation would
strengthen the Federal Advisory Committee Act to make federal advisory
committees more transparent and accountable. Advisory committees provide
expert advice to federal agencies on a range of topics,” said Chairwoman Maloney. “For years, agencies have used loopholes
to avoid making the work of these advisory committees transparent to the
public. Under this bill, agencies would have to disclose more information
such as how advisory committee members are chosen and whether the experts who
serve on those committees have conflicts of interest.”
NOTE: Federal government officials often consult with
individuals outside of the federal government through commissions, committees,
councils, task forces, or boards. These bodies are collectively referred to as
federal advisory committees. Since 1972 the management of, access to, and oversight
of these entities has been regulated by the Federal Advisory Committee
Act. Today there are roughly 1,000 federal advisory committees.
Since then, however, loopholes within FACA have been discovered, and experts
agree reforms to close these loopholes and bring greater transparency to
advisory committees are needed. The measure is supported by Project on
Government Oversight (POGO), National Security Archive, Open the Government,
Demand Progress, Public Citizen, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington (CREW).
###
