So you know...

An incredibly important bill is wending its way through congress.

The "publish what you pay" concept is this: a country has oil (or any resource) in the ground -- potentially valuable, but only if it's on the surface. So oil companies pay the government for the right to drill, lift the oil and sell it. This involves huge lump sum payments that have a habit of evaporating before they can benefit common citizens. If the books are open, this leakage can still happen -- but it gets embarrassing quickly for governments and the companies both.