WASHINGTON, D.C. - Montana’s Congressman Denny Rehberg today released the following statement underlying the importance of full transparency in all stages of the Fiscal Year 2010 Appropriations Process. Rehberg, who has supported rules in the U.S. House that require legislation be posted online prior to votes, has posted all requests his office received on his website.

“”The appropriations process in Washington is broken and needs to be reformed so that taxpayers are getting value for their dollar. And when it comes to spending tax dollars, sunlight is the best weapon against waste. That’s why I’m taking government transparency to a new level by posting on my website every documented request for funding received by my office. I’m also forwarding all of those requests to the House Appropriations Committee so they can be closely scrutinized. Montanans asked for a billion dollars in Fiscal Year 2010 for a variety of projects, and while only a fraction of those projects will be funded, it will happen in the light of day.

“Elected officials should not be allowed to hide in the shadow of secrecy by failing to release details not deemed suitable for public consumption. Folks have a right to know who is asking the federal government for money and who ultimately gets that money. The old way of doing business in Washington, D.C. needs to be scrapped and replaced with an open, honest process that keeps the public informed. For real transparency to exist, the public needs to see every request and they can then judge for themselves what Congress chooses to fund.”

The complete list of requests is available online at: http://www.house.gov/rehberg/fy2010requests.pdf