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re: Passage of the Federal Spending Transparency Act

by Ill. GOP Rep. Jerry Weller - 09/27/06 1:27 PM ET

As elected officials, we are accountable to the people we serve. This law increases the level of that accountability on a critical issue – the spending of taxpayer money. With this law, anyone with access to a computer can know how the federal government is spending their hard-earned tax dollars.

Combined with House passage of the line item veto and earmark reform, we are making progress on fiscal responsibility. The projected deficit has been reduced by $127 billion, but there is more to do if we are to bring the budget into balance. We begin by holding the line on spending.

Public transparency is an important tool in cutting wasteful spending. People don’t go to a department store or restaurant and drop money without knowing what it’s going for…it makes sense to apply the same rule to government.