Rep Jean Schmidt: "Bringing Accountability to Washington"

Via email:

Washington, DC - I think everyone agrees that we should be encouraging more accountability and transparency in the legislative process. This week, we got some good news when the Department of Justice(DOJ) posted the Foreign Agents Registration Act(FARA) database online at www.fara.gov. I was especially pleased with this news because I introduced legislation, H.R. 4679, the FARA Sunshine Act of 2006, which began the process of making this online database a reality.

The Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 was originally enacted to protect national defense and national security by ensuring that Americans knew who was working for foreign entities and governments to try and influence public opinion. The law requires individuals working on behalf of a foreign governments or entities to register with the Department of Justice. In fact, the FARA of 1938 was a valuable tool in keeping tabs on Nazi agents and other propagandists before and during World War II.

FARA is still relevant today because foreign governments and companies employ agents to represent on them. FARA filings show who is advocating for a foreign government as well as their payments and expenditures on behalf of that government. Prior to it being posted on the internet the information was extremely hard to access.

I introduced legislation because access to FARA filings ridiculously difficult to access. The data was only available to the public if a person physically traveled to the Department of Justice's FARA office in Washington , D.C. Once there, an individual would need to sign in, present identification, go through a security screening, and ask a reference person to view specific information. Needless to say, this process is extremely inconvenient, not to mention impossible for the millions of Americans who live miles away from Washington .

My legislation sought to bring FARA filings into the 21st Century - and into the sunlight - by creating an online database so that this information is more readily available and accessible to the general public.

I believe that the posting of this online database is necessary because it brings accountability and transparency to the activities of registered foreign agents. Americans have a right to know whom foreign entities have retained to do their bidding; and now anyone with access to the Internet can do just that. Although I think the process took way too long, I am delighted that there is finally sunshine on the Foreign Agent registrations at the Department of Justice.

Congress has taken some positive steps in ensuring more transparency in the government's dealings with lobbyists and others. It is only right to increase transparency and disclosure of foreign agents as well.