Senator Ayotte Renews Call for Transparency from Supercommittee

Press Release

As the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction held its first meeting today, U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) joined fellow Republican Senators at a Capitol Hill press conference to renew her call for all of the committee's business meetings to be televised and open to the public. Senator Ayotte is a cosponsor of legislation that would amend the Budget Control Act to require the new committee to provide advance public notice of all meetings and hearings, allow live television coverage, and be otherwise open to the public.

"Americans are absolutely tired of the backroom deals. We do not get a better result for the people of this country when things are done behind closed doors," said Senator Ayotte, citing the health care law and the recent debt ceiling negotiations as examples. "The American people deserve to know what is happening in this committee, particularly when it is a process that is outside of the norm. These negotiations should be completely open."

In an effort to further create accountability for the new committee, Senator Ayotte last month joined several Republican colleagues in writing to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell expressing serious concerns that the committee is not bound by law to operate in an open and transparent manner.

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