A New Idea For Congress: Read The Bill, Then Vote

Amending the House rules to require the online posting of bills for representatives and the public alike to read and review would change the legislative process for the better. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not agree with the American people on this issue. Instead, she is working to stall the "Read the Bill" resolution in the House Rules Committee. If this continues, the resolution will not even be voted on.

There is one way to get around the speaker's roadblock. Rep. Greg Walden, Republican of Oregon, has filed a petition to force the speaker to schedule a vote on the resolution if it attracts 218 signatures from members of Congress. So far, 182 members have signed the petition, leaving it 36 short of reaching the House floor.

Maryland Democratic Rep. Frank Kratovil is one of the co-sponsors of House Resolution 554. However, puzzlingly, he has so far failed to sign the petition that would bring it to the House floor for a vote. (Another Maryland House member, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, co-sponsored the bill and has signed the discharge petition.)

A cynic might conclude that he is in favor of the idea when it doesn't count - when it's stuck in the committee and going nowhere - but that when his vote could really make a difference, he's invisible. Invisibility is not what the public expects when it supports transparency.

The American people want transparency. They are willing to read the legislation, even if members of Congress are not - and they want the opportunity to do so.

Representative Kratovil has taken a commendable step in the right direction by co-sponsoring House Resolution 554. Now we urge him to sign the Walden discharge petition to get the bill on the floor of the House.

Colin A. Hanna is president of Let Freedom Ring, which recently launched its "We the People Can Read" initiative (WeThePeopleCanRead.org). His e-mail is

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