Read the Bills Roundup

From TheHill.com:

Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.), one of the Democrats to sign onto an effort to require a 72-hour window for a bill to be posted online before a vote in Congress, said he might vote against a healthcare reform bill if that principle is not honored. . . .

The Washington Democrat withheld his vote last week from a defense authorization bill containing some benefits for his district because he was not given a similar window to study the law. “It’s not because I don’t care about the nation’s defense, but because we had 24 hours to read it," he told the Chronicle. "If you do care about national defense, shouldn’t you care enough to read it?”

R. Cellan in the Missoulian:

To Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus:

To be up-front, we are seniors and depend on Medicare for our health plan. But we can still read, so give us a chance to do so before you enact your health bill. We will take the time, even if you don't seem have enough time.

We all know this is all smoke and mirrors. You don't intend to let us read the bill. You don't want us to be informed. You don't want to face us. You are afraid of us.

Kathleen Hartnett White of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, in the Waco Tribune-Herald:

Law is a most solemn product of our representative democracy. It concretizes the will of the supreme power of the state and binds all citizens to obey. The fate of nations has been shaped by wise and unwise laws.

Take the time. Our Congress must not only read these bills but let us do the same.

Colin A. Hanna of Let Freedom Ring, in the Baltimore Sun:

Amending the House rules to require the online posting of bills for representatives and the public alike to read and review would change the legislative process for the better. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not agree with the American people on this issue. Instead, she is working to stall the "Read the Bill" resolution in the House Rules Committee. If this continues, the resolution will not even be voted on.

There is one way to get around the speaker's roadblock. Rep. Greg Walden, Republican of Oregon, has filed a petition to force the speaker to schedule a vote on the resolution if it attracts 218 signatures from members of Congress. So far, 182 members have signed the petition, leaving it 36 short of reaching the House floor.

Note: this is the "72 hour" rule that we endorse because it will pave the way for the more effective "7 day" Read the Bills Act. You can send a letter to Congress to pass the 72 hour rule here. And go here to tell them to introduce and pass the Read the Bills Act.

EDITORIAL: Passing unread laws - Washington Times

This weekend's Fourth of July festivities celebrated the birth of representative government in America. As the Declaration of Independence set forth 233 years ago, our government derives its power from the consent of the governed. Such consent does not exist when legislation is purposely rammed through Congress so quickly that congressmen -- let alone citizens -- do not have time even to read it.

Welcome to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's House of Representatives. The "people's House" is now a place where bills are voted on not only before legislators or the public have read them, but also before parts of the bills even have been written. Such was the case with a 300-page amendment to the cap-and-trade bill the House passed on June 26. The House leadership could not even produce this amendment on paper, in final form, before it was voted on.

In response to that and other recent outrageous infringements of real representative democracy, a group called Let Freedom Ring is pushing all 435 members of Congress and 100 senators to sign a pledge against such shenanigans on any health care reform bill Congress considers.

All 535 of them ought to do so.

The pledge, which can be found at www.pledgetoread.com, reads in part as follows: "I pledge to my constituents and the American people that I will not vote to enact any healthcare reform package that: 1) I have not read, personally, in its entirety; and 2) Has not been available, in its entirety, to the American people on the Internet for at least 72 hours, so that they can read it too."

No simpler requirement for good government could be imagined. When what is at stake is a revolutionary change in the entire organization of 17 percent of the economy - not to mention the delivery of services that could mean the difference between life and death for millions of Americans each year - it is basic common sense to insist that our lawmakers know and understand what they are voting on - and that includes the fine print.

As it was put by Colin Hanna, president of Let Freedom Ring, "there is no rational reason for not signing the pledge."

Unfortunately, Mrs. Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid say they can't be bothered with such essentials. On June 25, both declined to promise to give the public a week to review any major health care reform. Mrs. Pelosi did not even respond to a question posed at a press briefing by Cybercast News Service about whether the Congressional Budget Office would have time to "score" the bill's final price tag.

Such an attitude represents the height -- or, rather, the depth -- of irresponsibility.

It is an axiom in criminal court that "ignorance of the law is no excuse." There certainly is no excuse for lawmakers to be ignorant of the laws they would force on the rest of us. That sounds almost criminal to us.

Make Congress Read Their Bills Before Voting

Make Congress read every word of every bill they create before they vote on it. Urge your Representative and your Senators to sponsor DownsizeDC.org's “Read the Bills Act” (RTBA).

Source:
EDITORIAL: Passing unread laws - Washington Times

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A Matter of Honor

The overwhelming majority of Americans agree that Congress should read the bills they pass. Our mission is to tell them about DownsizeDC.org's Read the Bills Act (RTBA). If we overwhelm Congress with demands to pass RTBA, Congress will have no choice but to follow our orders.

Directly inspired by DownsizeDC.org, California businessman Jerrol LeBaron has the idea that his state legislators should also be required to read the bills. One advantage in California is he doesn't have to pressure the State Assembly and Senate -- he can go directly to the people. Through California's initiative-and-referendum process, LeBaron intends to put California's own version of a Read the Bills Act on the ballot for voters to pass. LeBaron has created Honor in Office to accomplish this.

It is gratifying to see DC Downsizer ideas spread through the country. Success in California will inspire movements in other states and hasten success at the federal level. As the name of the California group suggests, reading the bills really is a matter of honor. An elected legislator really has no other job but to understand what he or she is doing to the people. Otherwise, why have elected representatives at all?

Yet, over the past three weeks, the House and Senate combined to pass 50 bills totaling 2,904 pages. These bills were not read on the floor. They weren't read by members in their personal time. Most weren't even read in committee.

(To see the list of bills passed, see below my signature.)

Let's tell Congress that the RTBA movement isn't going away. Tell them it is actually spreading to the states. Tell them if they don't introduce and pass RTBA, their very honor is open to question. You can send your message using our easy-to-use Educate the Powerful System.

We urge you to help spread the word about RTBA by adding your website or blog to the Read the Bills Act Coalition. This is an effortless way to spread the word about RTBA, and in exchange your site will be listed on our blog and mentioned in a Dispatch like this. Details are here.

Source: DownsizeDC.Org

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Make Congress Read Their Bills Before Voting

Make Congress Read Their Bills Before Voting
Make Congress read every word of every bill they create before they vote on it.
Urge your Representative and your Senators to sponsor DownsizeDC.org's “Read the Bills Act” (RTBA).

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