HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Dem Leadership Tries to Crush Petition on Allowing Americans to Read Bills Before Vote

More than 175 Members of Congress have now signed a “discharge petition” introduced Wednesday by Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) that would force Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to allow a vote on a resolution (H. Res. 554) that would change House rules to require all major bills to be posted online for public review for at least 72 hours prior to being brought to a vote in the House of Representatives.  Just 218 signatures are needed to force a vote on H.R. Res. 554, which was authored by Reps. John Culberson (R-TX) and Brian Baird (D-WA).  Five rank-and-file Democrats, including Rep. Baird, have publicly bucked their leadership and signed the GOP-backed petition, a development that reflects widespread public outrage over Speaker Pelosi’s decision to ram the waste-ridden “stimulus” and other massive bills through the House this year without allowing time for Members of Congress or the American people to read the text.

Now it appears that instead of allowing the House to work its will and reflect the will of the American people on this issue, the Democratic leadership is flexing its muscle in an effort to keep the Walden/Baird insurrection from spreading.  This afternoon, Rep. Tim Walz (D-MN) circulated a “dear colleague” letter applauding Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) for the “transparency and openness” they have brought to Congress, and arguing that the Culberson-Baird resolution isn’t needed because current House rules “already. . .require such a period of time be made available to Members for review of legislation and the drafting of amendments.”  Walz asks fellow Democrats to join him in signing a letter to Speaker Pelosi expressing these sentiments.

What the Walz letter fails to mention, of course, is that the current rules of the House aren’t working.  Under those rules, Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer have rammed a succession of massive bills through the House without giving the American people time to read the bill.  It happened on the trillion-dollar “stimulus” spending bill, which Americans later learned contained taxpayer-funded bonuses for executives at AIG and many other outrageous expenditures.  It happened on the job-killing “cap and trade” national energy tax bill, legislation loaded with special-interest perks that was unveiled at 3 a.m. on the night before it was brought to a vote in the House.  It happened on the massive “omnibus” spending bill earlier this year, which was loaded with some 9,000 earmarks that were airdropped into the bill at the last minute to dodge public scrutiny.  As I said earlier this morning in an interview with radio host Mike Gallagher - if we can get to 218 signatures, force Speaker Pelosi to allow a vote on the Culberson-Baird resolution, and pass it, the Democratic leadership is going to have a much harder time passing such garbage. 

It’s just common sense: Americans should be allowed to read the text of major bills before Congress votes on them.  Previous Congresses, including Republican ones, failed to live up to this standard.  But never before has the failure been as blatant as it has been in the past nine months under Speaker Pelosi.   Things have to change.

This is an important moment in the 111th Congress.  Americans are getting involved in their government like never before, and the growing support for a mandatory 72-hour review period reflects this.  I commend Reps. Walden, Baird, Culberson and others in the House who are listening to the American people and taking action to change the way Congress works.

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This entry was posted on Friday, September 25th, 2009 at 1:38 pm and is filed under Transparency in Government. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 Responses to “Dem Leadership Tries to Crush Petition on Allowing Americans to Read Bills Before Vote”

1. Stefan Bartelski Says:
   September 26th, 2009 at 8:53 pm

   Who are the 5 Dems who have signed the petition? I would love to send them an email of thanks for the courage and integrity.

2. JoanneDavis Says:
   September 28th, 2009 at 1:46 am

   As a citizen, this is not about a “party” but about We The People, The Constitution, I am fed up with Washington, and this is not about a “party” … I am a believer in The Constitution, The Bill of Rights, and The Declaration of Independence: We The People truly hold the “power” over government. It is simple, yet so complex due to the arrogance, audacity and corruption, of those We The People elect to SERVE … the time has come,that We the People are Standing UP for America, The Constitution, Bill of Rights … we are fed up … too bad for those who “represent We The People” and your arrogance … you are done, as the majority of We The People continue to speak/shout out: ENOUGH! NO to the undoing of our Rights under the Constitution, NO to socialism, NO to corruption, NO to ACORN/SEIU and the rest who would undermine all that is dear to Americans: ENOUGH!

   Frankly, 72 hours is a JOKE! WE THE PEOPLE WANT 60 DAYS TO READ, REVIEW, COMMENT, APPROVE ON ANY AND ALL BILLS THAT EFFECT WE THE PEOPLE … THIS WOULD INCLUDE 60 DAYS FROM THE “LAST” AMENDMENT OF ANY AND ALL BILLS, NO MORE EARMARKS OR ADDITIONS TO BILLS … AS GOD IS MY WITNESS, YES THE WORD “GOD” WHICH OUR FOUNDING FATHERS HAD NO PROBLEM SPEAKING/STATING AND I, PERSONALLY, AM NOT SOME FAR-RIGHT CITIZEN, YET I AM A BELIEVER IN THE IDEALS SET BY THE FOUNDING FATHERS, WHICH DID INCLUDE THE WORD “GOD” … SO IT’S TIME TO GET GRIP, DO WHAT IS RIGHT BY WE THE PEOPLE AND THE IDEALS OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS …. ELECTED ANYONE CAN BE REPLACED ….

3. Michelle Morin » Blog Archive » 9/28/09 URGENT Health Care Alert & Update Says:
   September 28th, 2009 at 9:52 am

   […] Transparency shenanigans are going on in the House of Representatives as well:Â Dem Leadership Tries to Crush Petition on Allowing Americans to Read Bills Before Vote […]

4. Stephanie Kienzle Says:
   September 28th, 2009 at 9:52 am

   Americans are demanding a mandatory 72 hour review period. Force Pelosi to vote on the Culberson-Baird resolution!

5. Rick A. Butler Says:
   September 28th, 2009 at 12:01 pm

   Today, whenever you Google the words, “honest politician”, you get a lot of scoffing and jokes as results - seems even Google knows that Americans have a serious trust issue with Washington.

   Back in the Founders’ days, we didn’t have much in the line of ways for average Americans to get involved in the discussion of legislation. And one would think that this is precisely what you want…unless of course, this stands in the way of an agenda, rather than the will of Americans.

   It stands to reason that if politicians don’t believe it’s important to give Americans the opportunity to read legislation and allow them to converse with their elected officials about it, then they may have something to hide in that legislation. We might actually start seeing all those silly pork projects and nonsense rules *before* it becomes law.

   I think 72 hours also is a bit short a time, but I would suggest if it’s 72 hours, that does NOT include weekends. It’s far too easy for politicians with an agenda to put something online on Friday and vote on it Monday, which would preclude a great number of Americans who would be out of the loop for weekend activities, as well as the media.

6. Grace Says:
   September 28th, 2009 at 2:23 pm

   Can we just vote these people out? Please?

7. Republican Leader John Boehner | Boehner on Democrats’ Backroom Health Care Deals: Let the C-SPAN Cameras In the Room Says:
   October 15th, 2009 at 12:37 pm

   […] people it serves. These reforms include a requirement that all bills be posted online for at least 72 hours before they are brought to a vote, and a requirement that committees post bills and amendments […]

8. seozy Says:
   November 3rd, 2009 at 8:26 am

   I visit your blog frequently and its very good , I am not a expert webmaster but i like your blog as its very simple and understandable.. please keep it up , 10/10 marks…

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