There will be no more “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it” business if Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) gets his way.
The Kentucky Republican introduced legislation Thursday that would force members of Congress to swear that they have read a bill or heard it read on floor before voting in favor of it. The penalty for lying: perjury.
“Elected officials are rarely given an adequate amount of time to read the bills in full, and unlike Rep. Nancy Pelosi, I believe we must read the bills before passing them into law,” Paul said in a press release. “If we are to answer to the American people, it is imperative we pay close attention to how legislation is written and the subject matter it pertains to.”
The “Read the Bills Act” would require any legislation that is up for final passage to be read in full, “verbatim,” with a quorum of members in the chamber at the time of reading. It currently is common practice in both the House and the Senate for the clerk not to read aloud legislation in full, regardless of whether the legislation is just introduced or is up for a vote.
With this condition, Paul’s legislation would require any members of Congress voting for a bill or resolution under consideration to swear that they were either “present throughout the entire reading of each such bill or resolution, and listened attentively to such reading in its entirety; or prior to voting for passage of such bill or resolution, read attentively each such bill or resolution in its entirety.”
The bill would not require members voting against legislation under consideration to sign such an affidavit.
Paul introduced two other pieces of ‘congressional transparency’ legislation Thursday: the “Write the Laws Act” and the “One Subject at a Time Act.”
