Washington, September 05: To make good on a pledge of transparency, the White House says it will open its visitors’ books for the first time, posting online the names of most everyone who comes calling.
An exception will be visitors whose appointments “cannot be disclosed because of national security imperatives or their necessarily confidential nature (such as a visit by a possible Supreme Court nominee)”, a White House statement said.
Otherwise, it said, “the record of every visitor who comes to the White House for an appointment, a tour, or to conduct business will be released”.
The White House said the list will be updated every month with “previously unreleased” records of visits that are 90 to 120 days old.
The online postings, which began yesterday, list the names of visitors, who they came to see at the White House, and the time, day and reason for the visitor appointment.
“For the first time in history, records of White House visitors will be made available to the public on an ongoing basis,” President Barack Obama said in a statement, of postings to be updated once a month.
“We will achieve our goal of making this administration the most open and transparent administration in history not only by opening the doors of the White House to more Americans, but by shining a light on the business conducted inside,” he said.
“Americans have a right to know whose voices are being heard in the policymaking process,” Mr Obama stressed.
—Agencies