Gabriela Schneider and John Wonderlich
2007-05-08 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

A new relationship is developing between Congress and its constituents. As the Internet transforms Web users into politically savvy watchdogs, Congress has an opportunity to earn the public’s trust.

Americans care about the way their country is run and want to actively participate in political processes, to help public policy and legislation more closely match their values and civic needs.

The same citizens who contribute increasingly personalized content in blogs, commercial Web sites, and online forums to make informed decisions about their consumer purchases are also more interested in contributing to our legislative dialogue. But, they are too often met with red tape and blockades to congressional information.

A more dynamic and productive relationship will arise between Americans and Congress when both recognize that they have a shared interest in creating a more transparent legislature.

Citizens have a difficult time understanding how Congress works.

Take, for instance, looking for the transcript of a congressional committee proceeding: A blogger searching online to see how her member voted on a recent appropriations measure would expect to find that that information is easily accessible online, but it is not. Under current rules, that same blogger is also prevented from covering Congress as a credentialed journalist, no matter how strong her reporting or how broad her audience.

The Internet has the potential to change the way Congress and constituents interact. We have reached a critical juncture where this interaction is recognized as both politically significant and civically productive. Responding to the growth of political awareness online, Congress and stakeholders are working together to help cultivate this productive relationship.

It is in this spirit that the Sunlight Foundation recently launched the Open House Project — a collaborative and bipartisan effort to suggest attainable, straightforward reforms to promote public access to the House of Representatives.

The Open House Project today released its first report of transparency reform recommendations, which were informed by a united coalition of participants from left and right with substantial backgrounds in media, government, information technology, blogging, and public policy.

The report suggests simple methods to harness technology’s power to bring people closer to the legislative process. Our intention is to help the House upgrade such popular services as THOMAS to take full advantage of the increased capability to share immediate legislative information with an engaged, networked citizenry hungry for that information.

Reforms such as creating a publicly accessible database of all bill status and summary information in a structured, non-proprietary format such as XML will help Congress maximize its ability to implement promised transparency and will also boost the capacity for meaningful public oversight and awareness of the legislative process.

The Open House Project is only a first step in creating a meaningful online movement of engaged activists. The ongoing strength and impact of the project relies on continuing community participation — from members of Congress, congressional staff, and citizens.

We encourage a dialogue on the recommendations on our Web site, the openhouseproject.com, and also urge Congress to begin work on these reforms immediately.

The Open House Project will hold Congress to its stated commitment to creating meaningful transparency. We recognize the obstacles to implementing all our recommendations, but these improvements can happen with a sustained, administrative commitment — the necessary response to the increased public pressure, the opportunities presented by the Internet, and the bipartisan support for transparency reform.

Together, we are opening the house.

Gabriela Schneider is communications director and John Wonderlich is program director for The Sunlight Foundation. The Open House Project’s recommendations are available at theopenhouseproject.com.