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Advocates for justice, consumer access to the courts, and accountable government
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Congress Watch champions consumer interests before the U.S. Congress. We seek to preserve citizen access to the courts to redress corporate harm and negligence. We also work to ensure that Congress represents citizens by exposing the harmful impact of money in politics and fighting for an improved democracy.
Despite industry promises to solve the problems that made 2007 the "year of the recall," the number of recalls of toys and children's products is up 22% over the first half of last year. Public Citizen and five other leading consumer groups released a report detailing the reforms needed to ensure consumers' safety. Go to toyingwithsafety.org to get the report and the latest on toy and product safety. Key reforms are being decided now in Congress - contact Congress today!
With Liberty and Justice for All? More than half a million people live in the capital of the United States without voting representation in Congress. Without senators of their own to call, citizens in the District of Columbia need our support to win their voting rights. Last week, over forty organizations signed a letter to Senator Reid, urging him to move the DC Voting Rights Act (S. 1257) before the elections in November. Read the letter here then take action now!
Put Voters First at the 2008 Conventions More Freedom of Information Still Needed We helped improve the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the first legislative update in more than a decade. But new legislation would go even further to ensure that exemptions to the law cannot be passed without notice and public debate. Read our group letter in support of the OPEN FOIA Act. Also, get the latest updates on the Watchdog Blog. Transparency in Government Contracts U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) have introduced the Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008, which would expand the information available on USASpending.gov and make the data more accessible and readable. Read the summary of the bill and our letter of support. Whistleblower When courageous people risk their careers to bring about a more honest and accountable government, they should be protected. We are closer than ever to extending protection to brave government employees. Both the House and the Senate have passed bills to protect the rights of government whistleblowers. Now, these two bills need to be reconciled and passed into law. The bill must not be weakened in the process! Get the latest news and take action! Nursing Home Arbitration We trust nursing homes to make sure our loved ones are in a safe environment, but many elderly residents are neglected. Instead of focusing on providing the best care to their residents, nursing homes are busy immunizing themselves from accountability by inserting binding mandatory arbitration clauses into the fine print of their admission papers. Take action!
The current system for senators to submit campaign finance reports to the Federal Election Commission is a maze of back-and-forth between agencies that requires printing and re-typing the same information repeatedly. The result is an annual $250,000.00 bill to taxpayers and the delayed release of information to the public. Take action! Another Win for Consumers The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) lost their attempt to overturn the part of last year's landmark lobbying reform law which requires it to reveal who funds the goliath business lobbying organization. Public Citizen and other reform groups issued an amicus brief explaining how the disclosure requirement is constitutional, and should be kept intact. U.S. District Judge Kollar-Kotelly agreed with us. Consumers should know who's behind NAM's lobbying to weaken toy and product safety improvements being considered by Congress now. Ending Court Secrecy Court cases can reveal dangerous activities and deadly products that corporations otherwise try to keep secret, but sometimes the public never learns these facts. Sen. Herb Kohl's (D-Wisc.) Sunshine in Litigation Act will help ensure that judges consider the public's health and safety when deciding whether to keep court procedings secret. Tell your senators to support the public's right to know. In addition, Public Citizen and 33 other groups urged the White House to let the public review and comment the rules governing the designation of Sensitive But Unclassified (or Controlled Unclassified Information -- CUI).
Take Action for Fair Elections More than ever, our elections are about which candidate can raise the most money from corporate interests. Under this flawed arrangement, candidates find themselves beholden to special interests, and those without access to wealthy donors cannot afford to run for public office. It's time to change the system. It's time to bring full public financing to our elections. You can help reform the system by supporting the Fair Elections Now Act.
The Bush administration has continually shown it doesn’t believe in an open, democratic environment. Delaying FOIA requests, blocking government workers from testifying before Congress, withholding presidential records and deleting White House e-mails are just some of the ways it has kept information from the public. Had enough? Watch a Webcast of a dual-panel discussion on what the government is hiding, the public’s right to know, and what you can do about it.
Presidential Records Act
In 2001, Bush signed Executive Order 13233 which allows presidents to withhold documents and records without explanation INDEFINITELY. What’s more, the order extends the authority to control the records to presidential family members and vice presidents. Public Citizen took it to court and won a partial victory. Now Congress must pass the Presidential Records Act Amendments to fully nullify the Bush Order and return the presidential records to the people. Get the latest updates on our Watchdog Blog. Take action! Dinner and a Movie Despite the new ban on gifts from lobbyists and lobbying organizations, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) continues to use "Dinner and a Movie" to woo lawmakers. Public Citizen sent comments to the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE), the U.S. Senate Committee on Ethics and the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct highlighting the violation, and a follow-up letter after the OGE responded.
The House ethics committee continues to live up to its reputation of favoring lobbyist access over ethics. Their new rule gives the green light to large lobbyist soirees at the national party conventions this year. This flies in the face of the new lobbying reform law. Take action!
Lobbyists Playing Bigger Role in Presidential Fundraising The number of lobbyists raising money for the 2008 presidential candidates already has eclipsed the total for the entire 2004 campaign. A new Public Citizen study shows that so far, candidates still in the race have recruited 142 federal lobbyists to raise money for their campaigns, compared to 136 lobbyist fundraisers in 2004. It underscores the need to update the presidential public financing system so that presidential candidates wont rely on influence peddlers to fuel their campaigns. White House: NOT for Sale The highest office in America should not be for sale. Yet, the presidential candidates are collecting truck loads of cash from bundlers and big donors. The "Presidential Funding Act of 2007" would fix this by modernizing the presidential public funding system. Take action! Recall Nancy Nord The Consumer Product Safety Commission is supposed to protect us from dangerous products, but Chairwoman Nancy Nord seems more interested in protecting industry profits. Tell Congress to "RECALL" Nancy Nord and to PASS the CPSC Reform Action of 2007 with additional ethics reforms to prevent staff from accepting industry-sponsored travel. Take Action! What's in Your Wallet? Public Citizen released its report, The Arbitration Trap: How Credit Card Companies Ensnare Consumers. Binding Mandatory Arbitration clauses are being inserted into credit card contacts. Merely by signing your name on the dotted line, you forfeit your constitutional right to a trial by jury. All disputes are settled by a for-profit arbitrator, appeal is nearly impossible, and our research shows the cards are stacked against you. Learn more and take action! Fortunately, The Arbitration Fairness Act of 2007 will solve these problems. Help spread the word to friends and family. Public Citizen has teamed up with Americans for Fairness in Lending to organize movie nights all across the country. Sign up! Victory! Congress Delivers on Lobbying and Ethics Reform Both the House and the Senate passed ethics reform legislation with veto-proof majorities. The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (S. 1) was signed into law on 9/14/07. See how your representative and senators voted on the bill and call them to express your thanks or disappointment. Read our statement on the passage of S. 1.
We're moving towards breaking free with Fair Elections in Congress. Read our new report all about it: "Breaking Free with Fair Elections" [pdf]. For just a fraction of one percent of the annual budget, public funding of elections would eliminate the money race for candidates and costly paybacks to industry contributors - a huge break for the American taxpayer. Visit our Fair Elections page to learn more, or participate in the conversation on our new Watchdog Blog.
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Voters First Pledge 2008
House Ethics Committee Parties On
