Washington, DC—Today, at 4:30 PM, DC’s US Representative Oye Owolewa will testify before the DC Council (1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW) against their current plans to legislate in secret meetings. Rep Oye’s unprecedented testimony follows the DC Council’s decision to begin holding secret meetings due to today’s political climate. Although Rep Oye appreciates the Council’s concerns, cutting off transparency to the DC community and press is a price too much for Oye to bear.
In addition, Rep Oye does not understand why the DC Council is looking to pass a permanent version of a secret meeting bill for a temporary political environment. Rep Oye plans to speak out against Legislative Secret Meetings because the people deserve as much transparency as possible.
“I’d like to take a moment to discuss how dangerous this proposed bill can be” says Rep Oye “At a time where we need to restore public confidence in government, the DC Council is working to keep all of us, including the press, in the dark. As concerned as we all are about continued Federal oppression on DC, reducing public transparency and accountability is not the correct path to forge. Legislating in secret is a short sighted tool that will soon further reduce public trust. If this Secret Meeting’s bill becomes permanent, then this tool will become a forever weapon. As DC’s Representative, I fight for Democracy because I believe every person deserves to be empowered to contribute to the betterment of society. This bill threatens just that. As I go around this nation to fight for self autonomy through DC Statehood, I often remind myself that it’s not just for us elected officials, but for everyone of the 700,000 Americans who call DC home. Today begins the fight to keep the government open to the DC community, because that’s who this all belongs to.
