Sunshine Week Home Page » Press Room »

Sen. Clinton Responds to Sunshine Week Survey

Published: March 16, 2008
Last Updated: March 16, 2008

Contact:
Debra Gersh Hernandez
Coordinator, Sunshine Week
dghernandez@asne.org
703-807-2100
mobile: 571-238-1499

For Immediate Release: March 16, 2008

Washington — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) says she is "committed to restoring open government" by not only mandating more open meetings and release of public documents, but also by nominating "an attorney general who has a proven commitment to open government," according to her response to the Sunshine Week 2008: Sunshine Campaign survey of presidential candidates. Sunshine Week — a non-partisan, open government initiative led by the American Society of Newspaper Editors that runs March 16-22 — surveyed the presidential candidates on a variety of open government issues, including access to information, Freedom of Information Act reform, secrecy and classification. To date, Clinton is the only remaining major candidate to respond. Former democratic contenders Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.) replied in full and former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) responded in part.

"I believe in an open, transparent government that is accountable to the people," Clinton wrote. "Excessive government secrecy harms democratic governance and can weaken our system of checks and balances by shielding officials from oversight and inviting misconduct or error.

"To me, openness and accountability are not platitudes — they are essential elements of our democracy," she added.

Clinton's response comes on the heels of a Sunshine Week public opinion survey by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University that found three-quarters of Americans think the federal government is secretive, and almost nine in 10 say where a presidential candidate stands on openness is something they consider when deciding who will get their vote.

Clinton's administration would operate with a presumption of openness, achieved by nominating an attorney general "who is committed to openness and transparency"; by directing agency and department heads to allow greater public scrutiny of the decision-making process; by training and auditing agency personnel to ensure overclassification and pseudo-classification are kept in check; and by safeguarding scientific conclusions from political interference.

"I would make it clear to everyone in the Executive Branch that I expect my administration to be open and responsive to the public," Clinton stated.

Clinton also said that if elected, she would disclose the donors to the Clinton Library and Clinton Foundation prospectively; she would roll back President Bush's executive order limiting the release of presidential records; and she would post federal contracts and budgets online.

Sunshine Week is a non-partisan open government initiative led by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, with online and broadcast media, public officials, celebrities, civic groups, non-profits, libraries, schools, religious leaders and others. Sunshine Week is endowed through a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which invests in journalism excellence worldwide and the vitality of the 26 communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. It focuses on projects with the potential to create transformational change.