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U.S. Rep. King: Online statements of disbursements a victory for transparency
12/1/2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Matt Lahr

December 1, 2009 Office: 202.225.4426 / Cell: 202.577.5138

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Steve King made the following statement in support of statements of disbursements (SOD) for Congressional offices being published online and made available to the public. House of Representatives statements of disbursements for July 1, 2009, through September 30, 2009 were made publicly available online yesterday afternoon and can be accessed at http://disbursements.house.gov/. The SOD has been published quarterly since 1964, but this is the first time the statements have been available online.

King’s statement follows:

“When the government is spending your money, I believe it should be fiscally disciplined and held accountable. The best way to achieve accountability is transparency. Congress should be as transparent as possible with the American public.

“I am glad these statements of disbursements are finally online. It is a significant step towards transparency, but I think they should go a step further. We need full disclosure of Members’ exact asset/liability values on their financial disclosures, instead of vague ranges. We also need all privately-funded Member travel, current House floor debate, and all bills and amendments fully disclosed on the internet in a form that can be easily searched, sorted and downloaded by the public.”

Congressman King has previously introduced the Sunlight Act, H.R. 170, to strengthen the financial disclosures of Members of Congress, to require precertification of privately-funded Congressional travel and to make the travel expenses of Members available online.


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