Revenue Watch has been excited to see U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton championing openness in government both at home and abroad. Marking "Freedom of Information Day" on March 16, Secretary Clinton said that United States was "ushering in a new era of transparency in government."
Clinton also cited these pivotal issues during her January confirmation hearings. During her introductory statements, Senator Clinton said that "helping African nations to conserve their natural resources and reap fair benefits from them" was among the top foreign policy objectives of the Obama administration, noting the links between equitable resource management to security, political, economic, and humanitarian interests.
Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) questioned Clinton about the "resource curse." Cardin said, "There is an effort made for transparency and extraction, so that we set up the model system for how a nation should handle how its mineral wealth is used for the benefit of the people of their own country. The United States is participating in that discussion. I think we could be more aggressive in trying to move forward."
In her response, Senator Clinton expressed interest in a "regulatory framework that would give both protection and incentives to mineral rich countries so that they would be able to stand up for their rights and then use the revenues in a very positive way to enhance the well being of their people."
Such a proposed regulatory framework already exists, in the form of the Extractive Industries Transparency Disclosure (EITD) Act, which was introduced to both houses of Congress in 2008, and which has enjoyed support from a growing number of sponsors.
Clinton also received a series of written questions from Senator Richard Lugar, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, who recently commissioned an analysis of more than 20 resource-rich countries, resulting in a Foreign Relations Committee report, "The Petroleum and Poverty Paradox." His questions to Clinton touched on the report’s recommendation that "the Secretary of State should exercise more effort on transparency issues, and build on international momentum for extractive industry transparency at the United Nations, at the EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) secretariat and through our embassies."
Based on Secretary Clinton's testimony and her written responses to Senator Lugar's questions, Revenue Watch is optimistic that her continued promotion of transparency at home will be reflected in her diplomatic dealings with oil and resource-rich countries around the world, from Russia to Nigeria.
LEARN MORE
