Presidential hopefuls sign pledge to back federal funding search engine [View All]

Presidential hopefuls sign pledge to back federal funding search engine
By Anika Gupta agupta@govexec.com August 30, 2007

Three presidential candidates have pledged to actively enforce a law aimed at making federal spending information more transparent.

Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, have signed on to a pledge, created by the libertarian-leaning policy group the Reason Foundation and an alliance of 36 public interest groups, to support the principles in the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, passed in late 2006. The law requires the creation of a search engine allowing the public to track federal contracts, earmarks, grants and subsidies.

The candidates pledged to issue an executive order "assuring timely implementation of and administrative commitment to" the search engine principle within 30 days of taking office.

"Every American has the right to know how the government spends their tax dollars," said Obama, who co-sponsored the 2006 law. "For too long, that information has been largely hidden from public view."

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