Will Congress Read Bills Before Voting?

By: Stephanie Condon
Topics: Congress

(CBS)

Last month, when Republicans tried to stall energy legislation with hundreds of amendments, Democrats hired a speed reader to get through them all. Now, with Democratic leadership barreling through its hefty agenda this summer, it looks as if the speed reader's services may be needed once more.

Various grassroots organizations are blasting Congress for not taking the time to properly consider the energy bill or health care reform -- two very significant pieces of legislation.

Let Freedom Ring, a non-profit, grassroots organization that supports a conservative agenda, announced an initiative today urging members of Congress to sign a pledge to read and give citizens the opportunity to read any health care reform legislation before voting on it.

"For something as significant as health care reform, which influences 16 percent to 17 percent of GDP, I think it is important for legislators to know what they're voting on, and not have lobbyists and staff members be the only ones who know what's in there," said Colin Hanna, Let Freedom Ring president.

The pledge was distributed to members of Congress on Tuesday, and Hanna has so far received signatures from Senators James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). Certainly, Hanna said, it would be in the members' best interests to sign it.

"I can assure you, legislators will be held accountable if there are parts in there their constituents find objectionable," he said.

Meanwhile, the Sunlight Foundation, a non-profit with the goal of increasing government transparency, is raising similar concerns about the energy bill that the House of Representatives is slated to vote on Friday.

With a full House vote just days away, the authors of the deal are still negotiating the details, the New York Times has reported. In a measure as complex as the energy bill -- which consists of around 1,000 pages -- the details can make a big difference.

"The fastest speed-readers and the most intelligent minds can't make informed decisions with that much time. How can Congress?" Sunlight Foundation Engagement Director Jake Brewer said today in a statement. "The problem here is the bill wasn't developed in the open in a committee, so no one -- including those members of Congress not on the Energy Committee -- knows how this latest version was created."

The foundation points out that while the bill, formally called the American Clean Energy and Security Act, was 946 pages long last week, it has ballooned to 1,201 pages in recent days with little explanation for how or why. The group is supporting a bill introduced last week that would require the House to post all non-emergency legislation online 72 hours before debate begins.

Hanna said Congress could benefit by keeping legislation simpler.

"Legislation has become so complex, you can really make the arugment the system the framers devised is broken," he said. "Most bills are voted upon without those voting understanding much of what's in it."

That's when members are forced to resort to speed readers. "It makes a mockery of the process," Hanna said.

Stephanie Condon
Stephanie Condon is a political reporter for CBSNews.com.
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by cbssucksbigtime August 25, 2010 6:35 PM EDT: The real question is: Are the members of the U.S. Congress able to read?; Reply to this comment


by NoMoreApologies August 25, 2010 3:59 PM EDT: Lawmakers who vote on legislation they have not read are a disgrace. Voters who keep sending the same elitist, entitled, rubber-stamp crowd back to Congress equally disgrace themselves.; Reply to this comment


by rirose1 August 25, 2010 1:46 PM EDT: What a bunch of idiots "we the people" have elected - so now they are treating us like idiots - the icing on the cake was the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency of the United States of America - after that fiasco - the gang in DC figured we are all out to lunch and they can put anything over on us. Those of you who voted for Obama did not read much before the election - you did not read the list of strange associations - did not read where and who and what his pastor of 20 years was all about - Obama voters did not read - did not listen - did not analyze - so the horrible, arrogant people in Congress are doing the same thing - signing without reading.
No bill should be more than 10 pages in length - then even 2nd graders could read it.; Reply to this comment

by jack_433 August 25, 2010 1:05 PM EDT

IMPEACH OBAMA!

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by angst22 August 25, 2010 1:47 PM EDT: Yes, right after we get GW and Cheney on the stand to answer some questions about Warrantless wiretapping and torture.

by jackolantyrn356 August 25, 2010 12:20 PM EDT

Congress has voted on Obama's bills without reading any of them since the first one showed up.
Why do you think they would act any different NOW>

I remember the Democrats rushing into secret to keep the contents of some still secret Bills away from Republicans.

I'm sure they voted for these Fascist or secret Marxist Power Bills without reading them. Or perhaps these were Sharia Law that of course Democrats never needed to read the Bills.

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by angst22 August 25, 2010 1:44 PM EDT: You act as if Congress not reading bills before signing is some new thing. Hate to break it to you - it's not.

I know it's hard to remember just a few years back but try and remember the Patriot Act.. Yep, passed into law without a read. I bet you don't even know whats actually in that bill.

Democrats keeping thing secret in bills? I bet you also believe thats never been done by Republicans with a Republican lead congress. Wrong.

People like you with blatant loss of memory, distorted "facts", using new buzzwords to describe people with "Scary" names, ignorant to history and facts and absolute dishonest approaches to real problems are exactly what is wrong with this country.

Try and learn a bit more about the things you talk about. It would be great and you won't look quite so stupid to the educated people in this country.


by kuku22-2009 August 25, 2010 6:21 PM EDT: angst22 hasn't a clue.
Any vote for any congressional Democrat is another vote for Pelosi. Voting for anybody else is not. Pelosi was the first speaker to completely shut out others' sponsored bills from the floor on association rather than on merit. That is a fiat and a disgrace.
How have things been for you since Nov 2006?


by Mooranon August 25, 2010 12:12 PM EDT: For God's sake, stop your whining, folks. You KNOW you are all going to vote the party line come November, so all of your indignant cries and complaints arew alligator tears. You put these clowns in charge because you were SO AFRAID of the opposition party. Well, live with your choices and know that you have doomed your children and grandchildren and set them on a irreversable path to the disintigration of the United States of America. We don't have to worry about Russia or China or some dark, sinister terrorist group destroying our nation; we are doing the job ourselves. So continue to vote for the D or the R, flip the switch and pull the lever because it now too late to change anything. Just use the short imte this nation has left to come up with a fairy tale your offspring will believe, one that places the blame on someone else. Before it all ends the kids are going to know who really destroyed this nation.; Reply to this comment


by ra44mr2 August 25, 2010 11:51 AM EDT: To me what is so ridiculous is that we are even having this discussion. I mean honestly? We have to have senators write down that they will read the bills they pass? How ridiculous is it that our representatives wont even read the things they sign off on simply depending on peer pressure on what to do? These people are called "leaders" and all they are is followers that talk a good game.; Reply to this comment


by burningtree95 August 25, 2010 11:35 AM EDT: But wait a minute. If they take the time to read all the bills, line-by-line, and deliberate over every nuance of the bills,and carefully analyze the possible unintended consequences of the bills, how will they get anything done? Wait a minute...good idea. The less they do the less damage they do.; Reply to this comment

by djaccountability November 16, 2009 12:14 PM EST

Several massive bills taking freedoms from Americans (including the Patriot Act and the excessive TARP spending bill) have been passed without elected officials having time to read them. Elected officials should have a fiduciary duty to their constituents similar to the fiduciary duty a director of a company has to its shareholders. It is outrageous that elected officials would pass a bill before they have a chance to read it. If a company director were to make a business decision without properly researching the issue, a shareholder would be able to sue the director personally for his failure to properly inform himself about the topic. The shareholder could ?pierce the corporate veil? and hold the director personally liable for his negligence.
Short of a criminal act, elected officials are not held accountable until the next election. Depending on the elected office, the next election could be over five years away. Merely not reelecting someone is not enough of a deterrent to prevent such negligence. A recent report stated that 237 (44%) members of Congress are millionaires. If these individuals are not reelected, they will go back to whatever lucrative job they were doing before they were elected. Citizens should have an immediate recourse when elected officials do not keep their promises or act negligently while in office (like voting for bills before they are read). I recently read New York?s new Congressman Bill Owens broke four campaign promises in his first hour in office. His constituents will have to wait years before they can hold him accountable.

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by angst22 August 25, 2010 1:46 PM EDT: An actual intelligent post here. I'm impressed!


by FaithfulinPrayer September 3, 2009 12:15 PM EDT: I?ve just completed reading the bill (h.r.3200) and detailing what it actually says at http://www.FaithfulinPrayer.wordpress.com. On the sidebar, you will see under Pages, one that says ?Healthcare Bill Index?. There you can see what section you want to read and click on the link that takes you to that particular article. It took 6 weeks and 33 articles to cover the whole bill.; Reply to this comment