If U.S. companies are going to work with some of the most brutal human rights regimes in the world, shouldn't they be forced to disclose just how much they're paying these folks?

That's the premise behind teh U.S. Energy Security Through Transparency Act, a bill in Congress that would require all oil, gas and mining companies registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, to disclose money that they're paying to foreign governments worldwide.

It's an important bill, especially given the fact that U.S. companies like Chevron (and many others) continue to give money to repressive regimes, including Burma. Oil companies have been partnering with the Burmese military for years, pouring cash into a country that systematically suppresses its people, and has marked an entire ethnic population ready for "extinction."

Demand Congress pass this legislation. If these companies won't willfully disclose their investments in shoddy human rights regimes, let's make them do it through much needed legislation.