January 16, 1973
Page 1259
GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I am pleased that the able junior Senator from Florida has reintroduced his Government in the Sunshine bill. This bill reminds the Congress of its responsibility to open its committee procedures to public view and links that requirement of legislating in candor to the effort to abate improper and secretive influence on the regulatory process. I wholeheartedly endorse the principle that Congress cannot require full disclosure of executive activities without, simultaneously, inviting the broadest public examination of its own behavior.
At both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, the premium Government puts on efficiency has been made an excuse for limiting access to and information about the process by which decisions are made. We have seen this penchant for secrecy operate tragically in decisions about the conduct of the war in Indochina, improperly in the ITT antitrust case, and, almost compulsively, in the automatic decision of most congressional committees to exclude the public from those crucial sessions where legislation is marked up. Neither the Congress nor the administration can go on automatically assuming that the people in whose name we govern should be deprived of the chance to judge our performance intelligently.
Only good and open administration and constant public scrutiny can make Government responsive to all its constituents, instead of just the privileged and expert few. As we are men ruled by human laws, we are certain to make errors in attempting to build a stronger and fairer society. What we may lose in efficiency, however, we will certainly gain through a more responsive democratic process. Opening up our conduct of office means closing out a future of alienation and discord.
In this complicated area I am convinced of the need for the most precise legislative language in order to assure that maximum disclosure imposes minimum hardship on the efficient working of Government. For instance, we must take care that open Government legislation does not inadvertently promote the further abuse of a system of classified information contrived without congressional control. And we must be certain to have language that regulates but does not stifle private communications between Government and its constituents.
I applaud Senator CHILES' initiative in reintroducing his important bill, and I look forward to working with him to develop this legislation into final form.