Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Hearing on E-Government

[Adam Sedgewick]

I wanted to update everyone on some work we've been doing at the
Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee that relates
to the mission of this group.

On Tuesday, we'll be having a hearing titled: "E-Government 2.0:
Improving Innovation, Collaboration, and Access". The purpose of the
hearing is to examine what progress the government has made in getting
services and information online and available to the public; what new
technologies can be used to enhance the government's ability to
collaborate and share information; and what challenges remain five
years since the passage of the E-Government Act. Our witnesses are:
Karen Evans from OMB; J.L. Needham from Google; Ari Schwartz from the
Center for Democracy and Technology; and Jimmy Wales, the founder of
Wikipedia. More information can be found here:
http://hsgac.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=513

Also, as I think has been announced here earlier, recently the
Committee voted out the E-Government Reauthorization Act of 2007
(S.2321). This legislation included new provisions on opening up
government information to commercial search capabilities and enhancing
privacy protections - two issues that will be followed up on at the
hearing.

Lastly, and perhaps most relevant to this group, Senator Lieberman
will be announcing tomorrow at the hearing that he'll be introducing
legislation to make CRS reports available to the public, and an
initiative to enhance the availability and format of legislative
information through THOMAS.

Thanks to everyone that has been posting and sharing information.
Hopefully we'll have more to report soon.

Adam Sedgewick
Professional Staff Member
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

[Peggy Garvin]

Adam,
Thanks for the notice. Will the hearings be webcast and the webcast be
'archived' online?

Peggy

[Adam Sedgewick]

Yes, it will be both webcast and archived: http://hsgac.senate.gov/

[Rob Pierson]

The hearing was excellent, and there have been ripple effects from it's impact in the House as well. Thanks for helping to organize the hearing, Adam, and thank you to Chairman Lieberman for his leadership on these important issues.

At the Hearing, Senator Lieberman also reiterated his support for making legislative information easier for citizens to access. In combination with the Committee on House Administration's request that LoC research how Thomas could provide better raw legislative data, I think we're making good progress on this issue.

Sen. Lieberman: Similarly, the Legislative Branch can do a better job of presenting information to the public about the status of bills and resolutions. We in Congress have access to a comprehensive website run by the Library of Congress, but the public site, known as "Thomas", is far less advanced. Furthermore Senate votes, unlike House votes, are intentionally presented in a format that limits the public's ability to examine Senators' voting records. I intend to work with my colleagues and the Library of Congress to improve transparency and accountability.