Transparency is the best precaution against corruption, especially among those who hold public office, said U.S. citizens in separate interviews with China Global Television Network (CGTN). The U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down part of a federal anticorruption law that makes it a crime for state and local officials to take gifts valued at more than 5,000 U.S. dollars from a donor. This June, the U.S. Supreme Court reserved the conviction of former Portage mayor James Snyder of Indiana. Snyder received 13,000 U.S. dollars form a trucking company during his tenure, which in turn was awarded two contracts worth more than 1 million U.S. dollars. Some people in the U.S. shared their views on this action by the Supreme Court and stressed that transparency should be used to eliminate corruption. "If I should be able to look up my staff and how much they made on a yearly basis, I should be able to look up you as a government official and see how much you made," said Drew Premergast, Food and Beverage Supervisor at the Virginia museum of Fine arts. "I have heard of the case Snyder vs. United States. It can border of federalism, especially when federal officials are looking to define something, such as gratuity or bribery, and they're so far removed form a state or (the) locals' actual situation. It can be hard to interpret their needs and, as such, make a law for it. On the flip side, I can see how, if you are not making these guidelines or you're not making these laws defining what a bribery is or what a gratuity is and implementing that, then it opens up channels for corruption and bribery," said a photographer named John.
"My personal opinion on the matter is that whether it one way or the other, I think the most important thing is transparency. You should, as an official, be documenting what you're receiving (and) how you receive it in terms of gratuities," added John.
US residents call for transparency among elected officials to curb corruption
