[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9589-9590]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                           CLEAR ACT OF 2000

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ose). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. DeMint) is recognized for 
5 minutes.
  Mr. DeMINT. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Citizen Legislators 
Caucus and on behalf of many of my colleagues in the Caucus, I am proud 
to introduce today the Citizen Legislature Empowerment through Access 
to Resources bill, or, more simply, the CLEAR Act of 2000.
  The Citizen Legislators Caucus was established to enhance the 
effectiveness of term-limited Members of Congress through a positive 
and constructive agenda. One of the priorities of our Members is 
working with other Members of Congress to advance legislation that 
encourages citizen representation and citizen involvement in 
Government.
  Citizen legislators are the lifeblood of a representative democracy. 
I am honored to serve with so many honorable men and women in this body 
who have put aside successful careers in other areas of life to come 
here for a short time to represent their districts and serve their 
country. Doctors, lawyers, farmers, teachers, small businessmen, people 
from all walks of life come here for a time to help secure the future 
of our country and then return home to move on to other areas of 
service.
  I believe such an attitude of service and representation is in 
keeping with the best examples of our Founding Fathers, as embodied 
most profoundly in the life of George Washington. President Washington 
held his positions of leadership in our country, including the 
presidency, as something with which he was entrusted for a limited 
time, not for a lifetime.
  Our country is a democracy, and a well-informed citizenry is the most 
important asset of any democracy. Over the past few years, we have 
worked to put in place a number of important reforms that have changed 
the way Congress works, giving greater information, access, and control 
to the people. We have cut committee sizes, we have imposed term limits 
on committee chairman, and made common sense decisions, such as 
Congress abiding by the same laws as the rest of the country must live 
under.
  As we move into the 21st century, the Internet provides an incredible 
opportunity for Congress to continue our reform agenda. We must open 
the door to Congress for the citizens to see more of what we do and why 
we do it. The CLEAR Act allows for the posting of reports and issue 
briefs prepared by the Congressional Research Service for Members of 
Congress on Member and committee Web sites. The American people, 
students, teachers, small businessmen, farmers should be able to get 
this information and facts on which we as Congress base our decisions.
  As we work to secure the future of our country, it is important to 
provide the people with the greatest information possible about their 
Government. This is a common sense next step in reforming our 
Government and returning decisions and freedom to the people.

[[Page 9590]]

  This in no way changes the primary purpose of the Congressional 
Research Service, which is to serve Congress; but it gives an 
additional window to the citizens to understand the workings of their 
Government and see some of the resources we have available.
  There is an entire library of resources we could be making available 
to citizens, information we have at our fingertips and often mail out 
to our constituents on a regular basis; and yet these resources cannot 
now be made available to American citizens in the same timely and 
complete manner on the Web.
  This legislation that I am introducing today moves such sharing of 
information by Members to the public into the next century. I am 
pleased that many of my colleagues are taking advantage of the Internet 
with their committees and often Web pages to provide citizens with 
hearing transcripts and testimonies and copies of the Congressional 
Record.
  As we move into the 21st century, I believe reports prepared by the 
Congressional Research Service should be included, as well.
  We live in an a democracy, a government of the people, by the people, 
and for the people; and we must give a clear view of what is going on 
in the Government to the people. That is why we are introducing the 
CLEAR Act today.
  I look forward to working with the Congressional Research Service, 
the gentleman from California (Chairman Thomas), and the Committee on 
House Administration and other interested Members of Congress to make 
what we do a lot clearer to our voters and continue to reform our 
Congress as we move into the new millennium.

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