Q: What is Sunshine Week?
A: The nation’s fourth president is best known as the Father of the Constitution and is considered the defender of open government. During the anniversary week of James Madison’s birth, we honor his legacy by celebrating Sunshine Week to commemorate this fundamental principle of good government. One of the most influential founders of our republic, Madison wrote, “…a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” By his conviction, knowledge is “the only Guardian of true liberty.”
As a government watchdog, I’ve learned pulling back the curtains on the sprawling federal bureaucracy is a never-ending job. My oversight work wouldn’t be as effective without courageous truthtellers who stick out their necks to report wrongdoing. That includes whistleblower disclosures of obstruction by the Obama administration that put national security at risk and emboldened the Iranian regime. That’s why I champion whistleblower protections to ensure individuals on the front lines of government and those working behind the scenes aren’t afraid to come forward. They deserve protection from retaliation and retribution. During Sunshine Week, I’m glad to report redemption on behalf of two IRS whistleblowers who exposed obstruction of the federal criminal investigation into Hunter Biden’s tax offenses. At my urging, they’ve been promoted to senior leadership positions at the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C. Reinstating whistleblowers who have been retaliated against sends a clear signal across the federal bureaucracy. Reporting wrongdoing is a patriotic thing to do and ought to be encouraged.
Q: What sunshine measures are you cultivating in Congress?
A: As a lifelong farmer, I know it takes sunshine for crops to grow and thrive. As a U.S. Senator, I’ve also found conducting the people’s business in broad daylight helps expose and deter wrongdoing in government. Transparency brings accountability. I keep my foot on the gas through congressional oversight, including my work in the previous Congress that swept across 97% of all federal agencies. Breathing down the neck of the federal bureaucracy keeps check on overreach and misconduct. Sunshine laws, such as my bipartisan Physician Payment Sunshine Act discourage kick-back arrangements that harm patient safety and rip off the taxpayer. In this Congress, I’m working to strengthen disclosure laws and regulations that track foreign ownership of U.S. farmland; stop secret pricing schemes that push up prescription drug prices; codify rules requiring hospitals and insurers to provide cash prices and negotiated rates to patients before they receive medical care; require pharmaceutical companies to disclose the price of their prescription drugs in television ads; and, improve nursing home metrics published online to empower families, including web-
based tools for inpatient psychiatric facilities.
Letting the sunshine in better informs the public and helps policymakers to make informed decisions. Policymakers and the public ought to know if someone is trying to influence policy decisions to benefit a foreign entity or adversary. I’ve introduced legislation to close a loophole that allowed unregistered foreign agents to skirt disclosure requirements and raised concerns about foreign influence-peddling on U.S. college campuses. America can’t afford to have foreign actors pull the wool over our eyes, peddle their propaganda on our campuses, or infect political discourse where we’ve seen a rise in antisemitism. That’s why I’ve led efforts to reform and strengthen the Foreign Agents Registration Act to end secret lobbying arrangements and let transparency
do its magic: disinfect wrongdoing.
Sunshine Week is a good reminder that the federal government exists to serve We the People. On this 20th anniversary of Sunshine Week, I again introduced a Senate Resolution to underscore the importance of open government. For decades, I’ve fought bureaucratic foot-dragging and a mindset that government knows best. From Pentagon overlords to rogue FBI agents, I’m working as hard as ever to rinse wrongdoing from Washington. We’ve seen how secrecy erodes the public trust and breeds conspiracy theories. In 1992, I supported the JFK Records Act that required the public release of records related to President Kennedy’s assassination. A quarter-century later, I pushed for their scheduled release and am glad President Trump delivered. Transparency is the best policy.