Daniel Inouye Quotes

From now on, the government has to make its accounts public on a quarterly basis.

I believe that the American People have a right to know what was done in their name..

Our government cannot function cloaked in secrecy. It cannot function unless officials tell the truth.

If something is being done on a secret basis in national security, that's a great reason for elected officials to not talk about it. And that's a great way to shirk accountability for it with the public.

The CIA claims that secrecy is necessary to hide what it's doing from enemies of the United States ... the real reason for secrecy is to hide what the CIA is doing from the American people.

Secrecy in government, in the public mind, becomes synonymous with deception in government.

Everything the CIA does is secret and it is secret particularly from the Congress.

Government is the creature of the people, and that which they have created they surely have a right to examine.

Americans have a right to know what is being done in their name…. These cables tell the unvarnished story of how the government makes its biggest decisions.

Secrecy is an instrument of conspiracy; it ought not, therefore, to be the system of a regular government

The combination of secrecy and bureaucracy in the CIA has led to a special kind of disaster.

Most leaks from large bureaucracies are “good” leaks: no danger to national security, no harm to innocent people, information the public ought to know.

If we cannot keep secrets, it is impossible for our leaders to have the adequate information on which to base their policies.

Although governments will also benefit from improved access to information, increased transparency will allow people at home and abroad to better observe and critique what governments do and to hold leaders accountable for their decisions. As a result, governments will find it harder to adopt strategies that require secrecy or violate international norms.

We need more transparency and accountability in government so that people know how their money is being spent. That means putting budgets online, putting legislation online.

There should be at least one leak like the Pentagon Papers every year.

It is up to the government to keep the government's secrets.

While the intelligence profession oftentimes demands secrecy, it is critically important that there be a full and open discourse on intelligence matters with the appropriate elected representatives of the American people.

Governmental officials -- including those whose principal duty is to enforce the law --have violated or ignored the law over long periods of time and have advocated and defended their right to break the law. The Constitutional system of checks and balances has not adequately controlled intelligence activities

There should be a mass purge of the CIA for incompetence…. There were 3,000 people killed on September 11, and not a single CIA operative has been fired. They missed that; they missed the weapons of mass destruction.

An urgent need exists for regular and responsible Congressional scrutiny of the Central Intelligence Agency. Such scrutiny is essential… Our form of government…is based on a system of checks and balances. If this system gets seriously out of balance at any point the whole system is jeopardized and the way is opened for the growth of tyranny…CIA is freed from practically every ordinary form of Congressional check. I agree that an intelligence agency must maintain complete secrecy to be effective. However, there is a profound difference between an essential degree of secrecy to achieve a specific purpose and secrecy for the mere sake of secrecy.

The Senate must stop doing so much of its business in secret, behind closed doors…. A bill that affects the nation’s security has been held up for months by a secret hold and cannot see the light of day…. There is no accountability…. The person who exercises a hold ought to be identified…. Secret holds have been the bane of the United States Senate for decades. So much for sunshine in the United States Senate.

Why does the White House sometimes seem so determined to close the door on the people's right to know what their government is doing?

Even more shocking is a proposal to create a new biodefense research agency that would be completely exempt from FOIA ...We can all agree that the nation must prepare, but it should not do so in abject secrecy

The people have the right to know what their Agents are doing or have done, and it should not be in the option of the Legislature to conceal their proceedings.