Our very own Congressman Ed Towns kicked off the 111th Congress today with the House passing two of his Bills. Not the most interesting of legislation, but still a good step towards reversing the Bush Administration's war on transparency.

From the AP:

Future donations to presidential libraries would have to be publicly disclosed, the House decided Wednesday.

The library vote and a separate one making it more difficult for former presidents to prevent documents from entering the public domain kicked off a new session of Congress. Majority Democrats have joined with President-elect Barack Obama in promising to make government operations more transparent. Both bills now go to the Senate.

Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said there was "enormous potential for abuse" from the current lack of disclosure. He said the Clinton library in Little Rock, Ark., cost an estimated $165 million and the Bush library is expected to cost considerably more.