Perriello, Wolf and Nye looking towards 72-hour notification

By JR Hoeft | Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 | Policy

U.S. Representatives Glenn Nye, Tom Perriello, and Frank Wolf of Virginia all would like Speaker Nancy Pelosi to give them and the American people a little more time to “read the bill”. But they are taking different approaches in support of H.Res.554, the only vehicle right now that would get them there.

Wolf signed a “discharge petition” last month that attempted to force a vote on H. Res. 554.

H.Res. 554 would amend the rules of the House to require that all non-emergency legislation be posted on the Internet in its final form for three days before a vote.

“Members of Congress and the American people should have ample time to review legislation before it is brought to the House floor for a vote,” Wolf said. “This legislation would bring much-needed accountability and transparency to our government.

“It was frustrating back in June when the House Rules Committee reported the final rule to consider the ‘cap-and-trade’ energy bill with 300 new pages added in the ‘manager’s amendment’ at 3:47 a.m. on the day the bill was to be considered,” Wolf continued. “It was irresponsible for the House leadership to give members so little time to read the bill.”

The discharge petition still doesn’t have the required number of signatures to bring the resolution to the floor, partly because Rep. Nye and Perriello haven’t signed it, they did, however, sign a letter on Monday in support of the resolution.

The letter emphasizes the importance of bringing “ordinary Americans back into the public debate over important issues” and specifically says:

“Rep. Brian Baird has put forward a proposal, H.Res. 554, which would prohibit the House from considering legislation that has not been made public available, via the Internet, to members of Congress and the general public for at least 72 hours.

“We strongly agree with the intent of this proposal.”

Nye also added in a press release that “it’s essential that everyone has the time to read and understand legislation before it comes to a vote.”

But Nye’s office acknowledges that he has not signed the discharge petition. And, while they state that the congressman “is continuing to make the point to House leaders that he feels strongly about giving the public time to read and understand legislation before a vote”, the reality is that only the discharge petition will get the legislation out of committee.

H.Res. 554 is co-sponsored by Wolf, and also by Congressmen Randy Forbes, Rob Wittman, and Bob Goodlatte. Wolf also co-sponsored H.Res. 721, which would have placed bills on-line 30 days in advance of a vote (it’s still sitting in the Rules committee).

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