When we lose our liberties, it does not happen in one dramatic moment, but gradually and quietly.

Moss served in the US House of Representatives for California's 3rd congressional district for 13 terms from 1953 until he retired in 1978. On May 1 1973 Moss was also the first to call for the House to set up procedures for a bill of impeachment during the Watergate scandal.

Congressman Moss is considered the father of modern legislative oversight. John Emerson Moss (April 13 1915 – December 5 1997) was an American politician of the Democratic party noted for his championing of the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) through multiple sessions of the United States House of Representatives where he served from 1953 to 1979. He was nominated by both the Democratic and Republican parties in 1958 and ran unopposed in 1960.