Parliamentary Sectoral Oversight Committee representatives’ study programme held

A ten-day official programme held for a group of Parliamentarians representing all Sectoral Oversight Committees of Parliament of Sri Lanka, to study the committee process of the United States Congress under the complete financial sponsorship of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the technical support and coordination of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), was completed recently.

The Chairpersons of the Sectoral Oversight Committees, representatives as well as the attached Parliamentary staff also participated in this study programme. The Sri Lankan study group had the opportunity to exchange knowledge and ideas about the functioning of the Committees of the United States Congress, which have been active for a long time, and to hold discussions with the members and officials of the Sectoral Oversight Committees, including Senators. Moreover, the group got an opportunity to observe the processes at the State level of the country as well as to study innovative trends such as the public service sectors of the Congress.

Conducting cordial discussions with senior officials of the US State Department including the Government Accountability Office, the Congressional Budget Office, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and the Congressional Caucus on Sri Lanka were held along with attention being paid towards rebuilding the confidence of the citizens in a Parliamentary democracy.

With the approval of the Speaker, the group also agreed to propose the introduction of a code of ethics and rules for the Committees with the approval of the Parliamentary Secretariat. In order to implement all suggestions effectively, the study group agreed to meet monthly and discuss the results and suggestions.

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