Bill Keller Quotes

I am committed to working towards a more transparent, accountable, and ethical federal government worthy of the public's trust.

The more government transparency, the better.

The taxpayers deserve accountability.

Government must be a transparent garment which tightly clings to the people's body.

We should be able to go to our government and get clear answers.

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.

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.

Too many people in government seem to think they are above regular folks, and I said I would expect humility in the way each member of my team served- that they would recognize that the taxpayer is boss.

People want a grounded government. They want a government that's going to be responsible to them.

If governments did not mislead their citizens so often, there would be less need for secrecy, and if leaders knew they could not rely on keeping the public in the dark about what they are doing, they would have a powerful incentive to behave better.

Can the public business be thus transacted and in secret?

We were sent here to hold government accountable.

It's my father's legacy. My father's view was that the public is the employer of these government employees and has the right to know what they're up to.

Ever since I arrived in Washington in April 2009, I have been fighting for more transparency and accountability in government.

No one in government should ever think that the citizens they work for can't or won't scrutinize their actions.

To restore and keep the public's confidence in the integrity of their government, state government and its officials must be open, honest and transparent.

The concern is the Government is not coming clean and informing the Australian public of the assumptions that they have made to give rise to a $10.4 billion package.

All officers of the Intelligence Community, and especially its most senior officer, must conduct themselves in a manner that earns and retains the public trust. The American people are uncomfortable with government activities that do not take place in the open, subject to public scrutiny and review.

Our constituents did not send us to Washington to shut down the government. They sent us here to make it more accountable.

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?

The more responsibility you can move toward local government, the better of you're going to be … City governments do better than their State governments in terms of accountability.

We as citizens should hold our government accountable for word and deed.

You’re doing the people’s business and they have a right to know.

Access to government-held information allows citizens to hold their government accountable for policy decisions and public expenditures…. Access to information bridges the gap between state and society ….

The government being the people’s business, it necessarily follows that its operations should be at all times open to public view.