Sunshine Week is observed in March during the week of James Madison’s birthday. The nation’s fourth president is known as the “Father of the Constitution” and a “fierce intellect” who prized public access to information.

A statesman and a scholar, Madison’s fervent defense of open government shaped constitutional guardrails that put power in the hands of the people. One of the influential authors of The Federalist Papers, his words stand the test of time.

Throughout my time in the U.S. Senate, I’ve faithfully subscribed to the Madisonian philosophy that “the advancement and diffusion of knowledge … is the only Guardian of true liberty.” That’s also why I work tirelessly to encourage civic engagement and foster dialogue with my constituents.

History shows transparency brings accountability.

Through my committee assignments, I’ve leveraged jurisdiction over federal agencies to scrutinize spending on behalf of the taxpayer, from wasteful spending at the Pentagon to improper health care payments draining the federal treasury, to the executive branch raiding the Commodity Credit Corporation like its own personal cookie jar at the USDA.

A few years before his confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1916, Louis Brandeis wrote, “Sunshine is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.” I would expand on his shrewd statement: whistleblowers are beacons of light who hold truth to power. They shine light on government that government won’t shine on itself.

As co-founder of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus,I champion whistleblower protection laws so these patriotic truthtellers aren’t silenced by retaliation or retribution. Throughout history, whistleblowers have exposed corruption, cronyism, incompetence and partisan schemes from the top rungs of government down to the bowels of the federal bureaucracy. Since I was elected to Congress post-Watergate, much of my oversight work originates from whistleblowers who stick their necks out to report wrongdoing.

I’ve put my shoulder to legislative and oversight wheels in Congress to keep the people’s business public. Consider the landmark Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) enacted in 1966 to ensure the public has access to federal agency records. During consideration of the original bill in 1965, the Judiciary Committee released a report that encapsulates why FOIA is needed. “A government by secrecy benefits no one. It injures the people it seeks to serve; it injures its own integrity and operation. It breeds mistrust, dampens the fervor of its citizens, and mocks their loyalty.” Four decades after its enactment, I helped sharpen the law’s teeth with bipartisan passage of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016.

Throughout my 45 years in the U.S. Senate, certain events in history have particularly captured the attention of the American people. When the public perceives the federal government is shielding information, the embers of suspicion and mistrust can become rampant conspiracy theories. My work to let the sun shine in on the people’s business is rooted in a fundamental principle. Transparency brings accountability.

Here are some examples.

• As a member of the Senate Select Committee on POW-MIA Affairs, I pushed for the successful release of thousands of pages of documents on behalf of the families of 2,200 missing service members from the Vietnam War. We heard testimony from 144 witnesses in 22 public hearings that led to the declassification of POW records by the Department of Defense. I worked to hold the government’s feet to the fire to provide transparency and a full accounting on behalf of the missing soldiers and their families.

• More than a half-century after the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy, I co-sponsored a bipartisan Senate Resolution to urge the release of all remaining records held by the National Archives and Records Administration in compliance with a public disclosure law enacted in 1992. After keeping up the pressure, the records finally were released in 2025.

• I’m leading a bipartisan investigation into Nazi-linked accounts and obstruction by Credit Suisse that sought to silence the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a prominent Jewish human rights organization, and shield at least 890 accounts linked to Nazis. I’ll continue shedding light on these secrets of history to bring truth and justice to Holocaust victims and survivors.

• Since 2019, I’ve pushed for full transparency about the government’s investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and I joined my Senate colleagues in unanimously supporting passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. His victims deserve answers and the public has a right to know all the facts.

• My ongoing oversight of Arctic Frost shows the weaponization of federal law enforcement during the Biden administration is arguably worse than Watergate. I’m working to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

With planting season around the corner, my fellow Iowa farmers know sunlight is essential for growing crops. Likewise, sunlight fertilizes good government. That’s why I champion whistleblowers, watchdogs and sunshine laws – including my work to require public disclosure in health care, agriculture and the civil justice system – to help weed out wrongdoing and ensure government works for the people, not the other way around.

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Charles Grassley, a Republican from New Hartford,

represents Iowa in the U.S. Senate.