Pelosi Blocks Bill Requiring Pre-Vote Waiting Time So Members Can Read Bill

Remember when the self-proclaimed most powerful woman in the world, Nancy Pelosi promised the most “honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history." But Pelosi must believe that being honest and open has nothing to do with reading a bill before it is voting.


Back in June, Congressional Republicans introduced H. Res 554. The bill's purpose is to amend the Rules of the House of Representatives to require that legislation and conference reports be available on the Internet for 72 hours before consideration by the House, giving the members and the public time to read the bill before it can be voted on. In the three months since it was introduced, the bill has languished on the speaker's desk as Mrs. Transparency refuses to allow a vote on the bill.

House Republican Leader John Boehner wrote this about the bill on his blog:

It’s just common sense: the American people should be given time to read major bills before they come to a vote in Congress.

In June, a bipartisan resolution was introduced by Reps. John Culberson (R-TX) and Brian Baird (D-WA) that would change House rules to require all major bills to be posted online publicly for at least 72 hours before they are brought to a vote on the House floor. I posted a similar proposal on a White House “transparency” website this summer - a site that allowed Americans to vote on the reforms they feel would make the biggest impact in terms of making government more accountable. My proposal got more votes than any other idea.

Today, Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR), Culberson and Baird filed a “discharge petition” in the House regarding the 72-hour review resolution. If this bipartisan discharge petition receives the signatures of any 218 House members, Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer will be required to schedule the resolution for an up-or-down vote on the House floor.

 On Wednesday, Culberson, Baird and Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) filed a discharge petition, a process used to force a bill out of committee. If the petition is signed by at least 218 House members, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be required to schedule the resolution for an up-or-down vote on the House floor.

“It’s just common sense: the American people should be given time to read major bills before they come to a vote in Congress,” House Republican leader John Boehner said in a blog posting on Wednesday.

Boehner said he has signed the discharge petition and he is urging his fellow lawmakers from both parties to do the same. According to Boehner’s office, this is the first time a Democrat has signaled that he would sign a discharge petition since the Democrats took charge of the House.

Boehner noted that previous Congresses, including those led by Republicans, have failed to give the American public time to read major bills before they are voted on. But he said the situation has been particularly “acute” over the past nine months:

“A pork-laden ‘stimulus’ spending bill, a debt-laden budget, a job-killing national energy tax and other bills have been rammed through the House by Speaker Nancy Pelosi without even allowing the American people to know what’s in the bills,” Boehner said.

“The collective cost has been astronomical, both in terms of the debt piled on our children and grandchildren and the astonishing amount of special-interest giveaways tucked inside.” (source)

 So which Is it Speaker Pelosi?  Open and Transparent or Hiding under a rock like a snake? 


Folks please call your congressman and ask them to sign the disclosure petition, to force Pelosi to do what she promised, "honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history."