Thread: See Who Pledged To Read All Bills Before Signing Them

Here's the list of Congressmen and Senators that pledge to read all Bills BEFORE they vote on them.

If your reps aren't there, please call their offices and ask them why they aren't signing it.

Not one of mine is on there!

http://www.letfreedomringusa.com/pledge-to-read

Senators and Members of Congress who have signed our pledge:
Rep Rodney Alexander, LA - 05
Rep Steve Austria, OH - 07
Rep Michele Bachmann, MN - 06
Rep Spencer Bachus, AL - 06
Rep Gresham Barrett, SC - 03
Rep Brian Bilbray, CA - 50
Rep Gus Bilirakis, FL - 09
Rep Rob Bishop, UT - 01
Rep Marsha Blackburn, TN - 07
Rep Roy Blunt, MO - 07
Rep John Boehner, OH - 08
Rep John Boozman, AR - 03
Rep Paul Broun, GA - 10
Rep Ginny Brown-Waite, FL - 05
Rep Michael Burgess, TX - 26
Rep Dan Burton, IN - 05
Rep Ken Calvert, CA - 44
Rep Dave Camp, MI - 04
Rep John Campbell, CA - 48
Rep Eric Cantor, VA - 07
Rep John Carter, TX - 31
Rep Bill Cassidy, LA - 06
Rep Mike Castle, DE - 00
Rep Jason Chaffetz, UT - 03
Sen Tom Coburn, OK
Rep Mike Coffman, CO - 06
Rep Tom Cole, OK - 04
Rep Mike Conaway, TX - 11
Sen John Cornyn, TX
Rep John Culberson, TX - 07
Rep Geoff Davis, KY - 04
Sen James DeMint, SC
Rep Charlie Dent, PA - 15
Rep Mary Fallin, OK - 05
Rep Jeff Flake, AZ - 06
Rep John Fleming, LA - 04
Rep Randy Forbes, VA - 04
Rep Virginia Foxx, NC - 05
Rep Trent Franks, AZ - 02
Rep Scott Garrett, NJ - 05
Rep Jim Gerlach, PA - 06
Rep Phil Gingrey, GA - 11
Rep Louie Gohmert, TX - 01
Rep Kay Granger, TX - 12
Rep Sam Graves, MO - 06
Rep Ralph Hall, TX - 04
Rep Gregg Harper, MS - 03
Rep Dean Heller, NV - 02
Rep Jeb Hensarling, TX - 05
Rep Wally Herger, CA - 02
Rep Duncan Hunter, CA - 52
Sen Kay Bailey Hutchison, TX
Sen James Inhofe, OK
Rep Darrell Issa, CA - 49
Sen Mike Johanns, NE
Rep Jim Jordan, OH - 04
Rep Steve King, IA - 05
Rep Jack Kingston, GA - 01
Rep Mark Kirk, IL - 10
Rep John Kline, MN - 02
Rep Doug Lamborn, CO - 05
Rep Bob Latta, OH - 05
Rep Kenny Marchant, TX - 24
Rep Kevin McCarthy, CA - 22
Rep Michael McCaul, TX - 10
Rep Cathy McMorris Rodgers, WA - 05
Rep John Mica, FL - 07
Rep Jerry Moran, KS - 01
Rep Sue Myrick, NC - 09
Rep Devin Nunes, CA - 21
Rep Pete Olson, TX - 22
Rep Ron Paul, TX - 14
Rep Mike Pence, IN - 06
Rep Joe Pitts, PA - 16
Rep Todd Platts, PA - 19
Rep Bill Posey, FL - 15
Rep Tom Price, GA - 06
Rep Adam Putnam, FL - 12
Rep Denny Rehberg, MT - 00
Rep Harold Rogers, KY - 05
Rep Michael Rogers, AL - 03
Rep Tom Rooney, FL - 16
Rep Paul Ryan, WI - 01
Rep Steve Scalise, LA - 01
Rep Pete Sessions, TX - 32
Rep John Shadegg, AZ - 03
Rep Lamar Smith, TX - 21
Rep Mark Souder, IN - 03
Rep John Sullivan, OK - 01
Rep Todd Tiahrt, KS - 04
Rep Patrick Tiberi, OH - 12
Rep Fred Upton, MI - 06
Sen David Vitter, LA
Rep Zach Wamp, TN - 03
Rep Lynn Westmoreland, GA - 03
Rep Joe Wilson, SC - 02
Rep Robert Wittman, VA - 01
Rep Frank Wolf, VA - 10

I only have one for the state. Sue Myrick is probably the most effective against illegals, as she managed to get the immigration court to Charlotte so they don't overburden the courts in Atlanta.
I will be emailing, and hopefully politely embarassing all the fools that don't need to read bills before voting on them.

Rep Virginia Foxx, NC - 05
Rep Sue Myrick, NC - 09

That's two so far.

Pledging to read bills before they are voted on is futile as long as Congressional leaders are allowed to forcibly rush bills to the floor for a vote at their discretion. That needs to be stopped. They really need to pass a law such as Downsize DC's "Read the Bills Act of 2005 (RTBA)" to stop the practice of forcing votes before allowing a sufficient amount of time to review legislation. Unfortunately, this proposal seems to be dead, but maybe there's hope if we encourage our representative members of Congress to support Congressman Baird's bill:


Text of H.Res.554 as Introduced in House

111th Congress

H. RES. 554

Amending 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, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 17, 2009

Mr. BAIRD (for himself and Mr. CULBERSON) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules

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RESOLUTION

Amending 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, and for other purposes.

SECTION 1. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this resolution is to:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

(1) Modernize the operations of the House of Representatives using information technology that has transformed and increased the efficiency of many aspects of American society such as financial services and markets, transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, and commerce with consumers and businesses.

(2) Slow the explosive growth of the $11,000,000,000,000 national debt of the United States, reduce excessive annual budget deficits, and control the size and scope of government by ensuring that there is adequate scrutiny of proposals for new and amended laws, taxes, and expenditures.

(3) Enhance public participation in American democracy and improve the quality of proposed legislation by allowing the opportunity for its review by State and local government officials, small business owners, large business leaders, journalists, scientists, academics, labor leaders, nonprofit organization leaders, authors of weblogs, and interested citizens.

(4) Help restore public trust in government and enhance respect for the House of Representatives and the Congress by ensuring that their operations are conducted with the openness, order, and dignity befitting the world’s oldest democracy.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO RULE XIII REGARDING AVAILABILITY OF LEGISLATION AND REPORTS.

(a) Clause 4 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended--

(1) in its side heading, by inserting ‘legislation and’ before ‘reports’;

(2) in paragraph (a) by striking subparagraph (1) and inserting the following new subparagraph:

‘(1) Except as specified in subparagraph (2), it shall not be in order to consider in the House a measure or matter until 72 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays except when the House is in session on such a day) after the text of such measure or matter (and, if the measure or matter is reported, the text of all accompanying reports) have been made available to Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, and the general public pursuant to subparagraph (3).’;

(3) by adding at the end of paragraph (a) the following new subparagraph:

‘(3) Without further amendment before floor consideration, the full text of the measure or matter and each committee report thereon shall be posted continuously by means of the Internet in such a manner that they are conveniently accessible using existing technology, anonymously and at no cost, in a format that is searchable by text.’;

(4) in paragraph (c), by striking ‘the third calendar day’ and inserting ‘at least 72 hours’ and by striking ‘on’ and inserting ‘after’.

(b) Rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is further amended--

(1) in clause 5(b), by striking ‘and the Resident Commissioner’ and inserting ‘the Resident Commissioner, and the general public’;

(2) in clause 6(c), by striking ‘or’ at the end of subparagraph (1), by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (2) and inserting ‘; or’, and by inserting before the period ‘a rule or order proposing a waiver of clause 4(a) of rule XIII or of clause 8(a) or 8(b) of rule XXII, unless a question of consideration of the rule is adopted by a vote of two-thirds of the Members voting, a quorum being present’.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO RULE XXII REGARDING AVAILABILITY OF CONFERENCE REPORTS AND AMENDMENTS REPORTED IN DISAGREEMENT.

Clause 8 of rule XXII of the Rules of the House of Representatives is amended--

(1) by striking subparagraph (a) and inserting the following new paragraph:

‘(a)(1) It shall not be in order to consider a conference report until 72 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays except when the House is in session on such a day) after the conference report and the accompanying joint explanatory statement have been available to Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, and the general public pursuant to subparagraph (2).

‘(2) Without further amendment before floor consideration, the full texts of the conference report and the accompanying signed joint explanatory statement shall be posted continuously by means of the Internet in such a manner that they are conveniently accessible using existing technology, anonymously and at no cost, in a format that can be searched by text.’;

(2) in paragraph (b), by striking subparagraphs (1) and (2) and inserting the following new subparagraphs:

‘(1) It shall not be in order to consider a motion to dispose of a Senate amendment reported in disagreement by a conference committee until at least 72 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays except when the House is in session on such a day) after the report in disagreement and any accompanying statement have been available to Members, Delegates, the Resident Commissioner, and the general public pursuant to subparagraph (2).

‘(2) Without further amendment before floor consideration, the full texts of a Senate amendment reported in disagreement and any accompanying statement shall be posted continuously by means of the Internet in such a manner that they are conveniently accessible using existing technology, anonymously and at no cost, in a format that can be searched by text.’.

SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.
Nothing in this resolution or any amendment made by it shall be interpreted to require or permit the declassification or posting on the Internet of classified information in the custody of the House of Representatives. Such classified information shall be made available to Members in a timely manner as appropriate under existing laws and rules.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF THE HOUSE REGARDING AMENDMENTS.
It is the sense of the House that, with the objective of preventing circumvention of clause 4(a) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives that the Committee on Rules should develop standardized policies and procedures to require that proposed amendments (except those offered under an open rule) that are major in size, scope, or cost be posted on the Internet for an appropriate number of hours.

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-hr554/show