Disclosure

President Obama signed a bill that eliminates a financial disclosure requirement for some government employees, the White House announced. Here's the White House's statement:

Statement by the Press Secretary on S. 716

On Monday, April 15, 2013, the President signed into law:

S. 716, which eliminates the requirement in the STOCK Act to make available on official websites the financial disclosure forms of employees of the executive and legislative branches other than the President, the Vice President, Members of and candidates for Congress, and several specified Presidentially nominated and Senate-confirmed officers; and delays until January 1, 2014, the date by which systems must be developed that enable public access to financial disclosure forms of covered individuals.

There was no signing ceremony to mark the occasion.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid helped set the precedent for looking into foreign backers when, in 2002, he demanded that Henry Kissinger reveal the source of his funders before serving on the 9/11 Commission. Kissinger refused to release his own documents, and therefore did not serve on the commission.