[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 16, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1203-S1204]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Sunshine Week

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I come to the floor today to celebrate 
what we say annually is Sunshine

[[Page S1204]]

Week, a very important week in our system of self-government. For the 
last 17 years, advocacy groups, good-government watchdogs, media 
organizations, and many Members of this body have joined forces to 
observe the importance of transparency in government and freedom of 
information. As a longtime champion for open, accessible government, I 
speak today in support of what we all ought to consider enduring 
principles.
  Sunshine Week coincides each year with March 16. That is the day one 
of our Nation's Founding Fathers and fourth President of the United 
States James Madison was born. Madison is widely known as the father of 
the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. From his writings, 
particularly in the Federalist Papers, you might say he was the 
architect who framed our system of checks and balances. Madison 
believed all powers of the government are derived of, by, and for the 
people, and that is what brings me to the floor today.
  The public has a right to know what their government is doing and how 
it is spending tax dollars. There are very few things in government 
that should be kept secret: national security, so we don't tell our 
enemies what we are going to do; the privacy of American citizens; and 
some intelligence-gathering information. I will bet that is 1 percent 
of everything the government is involved in. Yet there are some people 
who think that a lot more ought to be classified or secret, et cetera, 
et cetera.
  So we have the Freedom of Information Act that is to protect the 
public's right to know. Through Freedom of Information Act requests, 
everyday Americans can ask a Federal Agency for information. 
Unfortunately, now--and it is a growing problem--Federal Agencies seem 
to have the unstated goal of releasing as little information as 
possible to the public.
  Agencies rely on exemptions to FOIA, the Freedom of Information Act, 
to withhold information. A 2021 Government Accountability Office study 
found this: that Federal Agencies use FOIA exemptions to avoid 
disclosing documents. That problem has doubled between 2012 and 2019.
  Most Americans may not be familiar with the section of the code that 
we call the (b)(3) FOIA exemption, and, of course, they don't have to 
be aware of this, but they should know that it is the most used 
justification by the Federal Government to withhold information from 
the public.
  The increase in the use of this FOIA exemption to withhold 
information from the public is unacceptable to me, and it ought to be 
unacceptable to anybody who believes that we should not have secrecy in 
government.
  In another recent report, the Government Accountability Office found 
that FOIA request backlogs increased by nearly 20 percent in just the 1 
year of 2019 to 2020. In fact, backlogged FOIA requests are up 97 
percent since 2012. Sixteen Federal Agencies had more than 1,000 
backlogged FOIA requests. They account for 94 percent of backlogged 
requests across the entire government.
  Federal Agencies ought to do better--must do better--and we must all 
work to ensure that they are responding appropriately and within a 
reasonable time for FOIA requests.
  Congressional oversight is part of our constitutional assignment: to 
protect the power of the purse and ensure laws are faithfully enforced.
  Finally, we must acknowledge the important role that citizens play 
who bravely come forward, often at great professional risk, to report 
wrongdoing in our efforts to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. I have 
often said that whistleblowers are the best line of defense against 
government waste. No one shines a brighter light on waste, fraud, and 
abuse than whistleblowers. And why might that be? Because they are down 
in the bowels of the government where maybe the heads of the Agencies 
don't know something wrong is going on, and they are able to point it 
out--the whistleblowers are.
  That is why I introduced legislation this Congress to strengthen the 
False Claims Act. I got the False Claims Act passed in 1986. Since 
then, that act has helped government recover $70 billion in fraud.
  Last year, I asked the Department of Veterans Affairs about 
allegations that VA employees leaked potentially market-sensitive 
information, and then do you know what they did? They retaliated 
against these whistleblowers. Nearly 1 year later, I haven't received 
any answers, and I assume I am not going to receive any answers because 
it is an embarrassment to the VA.
  As a cofounder and cochairman of the Whistleblower Protection Caucus, 
I lead efforts from Capitol Hill to strengthen protections and raise 
awareness for what often is an uphill battle for whistleblowers.
  I want you to know how I feel whistleblowers are treated by their 
very own government, how they are treated just because they want the 
government to do what the government is supposed to be doing under the 
laws, and they want the money spent the way Congress intends for the 
money to be spent. These whistleblowers who point out that wrongdoing 
are treated by the bureaucracy like skunks at a picnic.
  This U.S. Senator will continue shining spotlight on waste, fraud, 
and abuse at the Pentagon, and I am going to do it elsewhere, as well. 
I will continue advocating for whistleblowers with every tool at my 
disposal.
  And as an Iowa farmer, I know why farmers make hay when the sun 
shines, and that is a good lesson for good government. Sunshine helps 
hold government accountable to the people.
  Let me repeat that again: Transparency brings accountability.