United States Senator John Cornyn, Texas

(see also: Fiscal Responsibility & Government Accountability)

"Open government is a prerequisite for a free society. As our Founding Fathers recognized, a truly democratic system depends on an informed citizenry. Accountability is only an empty promise without transparency. I believe our legislation will provide citizens and journalists with more information and make our great American democracy even stronger." 

                             -- Senator John Cornyn 

Open government is one of the most basic requirements of any healthy democracy. It allows for taxpayers to see where their money is going; it permits the honest exchange of information that ensures government accountability; and it upholds the ideal that government never rules without the consent of the people. Our government is based not on the need to know, but upon the fundamental right to know.

Senator Cornyn's Accomplishments Include:

• Sponsored The OPEN FOIA Act Of 2008:  The OPEN FOIA Act would require Congress to explicitly and clearly state its intention to provide for statutory exemptions to FOIA in new legislative proposals.
• A Leader in Open Government: Introduced the bipartisan OPEN Government Act of 2007, which would make the most significant reforms to the Freedom of Information Act in more than a decade.  The Act contains important Congressional findings reinforcing the view that the Freedom of Information Act establishes a presumption of openness, and that our government is based not on the need to know, but upon the fundamental right to know. The OPEN Government Act passed Congress On December 18, 2007 and was signed into law by the President on Monday, December 31, 2007
• Promoting Transparency & Accountability: Cosponsored the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.  This bill creates a publicly accessible online database of all federal funding—with exceptions for classified national security matters. Taxpayers deserve to know exactly how their money is being spent. 
• Helping Texas Counties with HAVA Implementation: Under the Help America Vote Act, Texas counties were required to purchase expensive new voting equipment, but had not yet received federal grant money allocated to assist with the purchase due to the inability of the State to come up with the required matching funds. Senator Cornyn successfully lobbied the Election Assistance Commission to allow the State to receive a pro-rated disbursement of their grant funding by making a partial match.  This was particularly beneficial for rural counties in Texas.
• Increasing Access to Federally-Funded Research: Introduced bipartisan legislation with U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) to increase taxpayers' access to federally funded research. The bill requires every federal agency with an annual research budget of more than $100 million to implement a public access policy to make their findings accessible to others.
• Expediting Public Access to Government Documents: Supported bipartisan legislation that establishes a 16-member Commission on Freedom of Information Act Processing Delays to conduct a study concerning methods to: (1) reduce delays in processing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests; and (2) ensure the efficient and equitable administration of FOIA throughout the Government and; (3) Make recommendations as to whether FOIA fees and fee waivers need to be reformed.