We are here to exchange ideas of how to strengthen our democracies, both in Honduras and the United States. We in civil society sector of the U.S. are very aware that our system is good, but flawed, particularly because of its weakness to be manipulated by private interests.

Your democracy in Honduras is vibrant, and we are extremely impressed with your proposal for public confirmation hearings. We look forward to bringing that idea back to the United States.

My perspective on public policymaking is that there are some less recognized dynamics that we at POGO believe are essential to a healthy democracy. Students in the United States are taught that central to our democracy is the balance of power between the three branches of government – the Executive Branch, the Congress, and the courts. But my perspective is that for a truly healthy democracy, there is in fact a larger cast of characters: the Executive Branch, Congress, the courts, the media, and civil society. When there is an imbalance, where any of these sectors is not doing its job, private interests skew the policymaking process to their advantage, rather than to the interests of the public.

Some examples of how these sectors are necessary for a healthy democracy:

-It is through the work of Congressional investigators and the media that the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal – the lobbyist whose illegal activities lead to the downfall of powerful House Speaker Tom Delay and imprisonment of another Member of Congress -- came to light.

-It is through the work of the media that the human rights abuses at Abu Ghraib and the warrantless-wiretap surveillance operations came to light.

-It is through the work of civil society organizations that World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz’s conflicts of interest came to light.

The common thread in all of these examples is that there were brave insiders who came forward to the Congress, media or non-governmental organizations to reveal the truth. In the States, these people are referred to as “whistleblowers” -- a concept drawn both from sports referees and police officers who blow a whistle in order to stop people from continuing their conduct. These people risk their jobs, their lifestyle, and even their lives to reveal corruption. In the United States, these brave truth-tellers have little legal protections. Imagine if they did, how much healthier both our democracies would be! We are working hard in the United States to push for such a change and I hope our discussions this week will give some of you an interest in doing the same here in Honduras. Imagine how much could be accomplished if people could come to you in the Congress, or your media, or to the Democracy without Borders Foundation without fear.

We have, in the US, been suffering through an era when the Congress has been very weak, and the media is also on a serious decline. As a result, I don’t have to explain to anyone how much influence private money has over our political system. We at POGO are beginning our second season of Congressional Oversight Training Seminars for Capitol Hill staff. In our training sessions, we show Congressional staff the great value in working both with the media and civil society in significantly increasing the effectiveness of their work overseeing the executive branch.


The other message we emphasize is the necessity to work across party lines to accomplish those goals. For every seminar, a different experienced Republican and Democratic staffer joins together to teach the new staff how to conduct oversight of the Administration. We have found that the media as well as the general public can smell a mile away self-serving oversight that is not designed to improve democracy, but is instead motivated by partisan efforts to attack an opposing political party. We have found one of the most effective tools is to reach across party lines in order to demonstrate one’s sincerity to improve policies.

This concept is no better demonstrated than in the proposal before you today for public confirmation hearings. It embraces the ideal of involving all the actors necessary for oversight – Congress, media and NGOs, in a public forum to challenge the people nominated for significant positions as public officials. This is a visionary concept that we will bring back to the US Congress, and show them how Honduras has set new standards for a healthy democracy. I sincerely hope that we can tell your counterparts in the US that your proposal has become passed into law.

Thank you again for inviting us to join you. While my comments have been relatively broad in scope, my colleague Scott Amey POGO’s General Counsel, is going to discuss some of the specific tools for government oversight we have in the States.