Open government is essential to democracy« Thread Started on Jul 6, 2007, 10:57am » --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Open government is essential to democracySen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, U.S. SENATEClick-2-ListenFriday, July 06, 2007read at source> http://www.statesman.com/opinion/conten ... .htmlSince coming to the U.S. Senate in 2002, I've tried to bring a little "Texas sunshine" to Washington. Texas has one of the strongest laws expanding the right of every citizen to access records documenting what the government is up to. Unfortunately, the sun doesn't shine as brightly in Washington. The federal Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, which was signed into law 41 years ago, was designed to guarantee public access to records that explain what the government is doing. However, FOIA needs an update to make it really work for the citizens of this country.