Grassley holds President accountable for promises to make government transparent
March 18, 2009
WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley has asked President Barack Obama to account for the way his signing statement on the omnibus spending bill this week contradicts promises he made on during the presidential campaign and his pledges to support federal whistleblowers.
[efoods]“The President’s signing statement this week is alarming,” Grassley said. “It makes you think that the new era of transparency is over before it began. President Obama shouldn’t go back on his word from the campaign trail and do an end run around Congress.” Here is a statement made by candidate Obama about presidential signing statements: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seAR1S1Mjkc.
Earlier this month, Grassley wrote to Obama to urge him to hold a Rose Garden ceremony honoring whistleblowers. It’s an idea that Grassley has long suggested to Presidents as a way to send a message from the top of the bureaucracy on down that whistleblowers deserve rewards, rather than reprisals, for exposing mismanagement and waste, fraud and abuse of tax dollars.
The text of Grassley’s letter of protest regarding this week’s signing statement is immediately below. Grassley’s earlier letter is also below.
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