IN THE NEWS

Democrats Unveil New Rules to Bring Integrity, Civility and Fiscal Responsibility Back to House

WASHINGTON, DC – House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) joined the House Democratic Leadership and Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (NY) in unveiling today a new package of rules to govern the House.  The rules will help bring back integrity, civility and fiscal responsibility to the House.  The package will be debated on Thursday and Friday, with final package expected Friday afternoon.

“This week Democrats will change the way business is done in Washington by enacting new rules to govern the House,” said Hoyer.  “First, we will help bring integrity back to the House by breaking the link between lobbyists and lawmakers, and holding Members and staff more accountable. 

“Second, we will help bring civility back to the House by opening up the process and providing the minority a voice – we will also respect the rules already in place that provide for a bipartisan process but had been ignored by the previous Majority. 

“Third, we will help bring back fiscal responsibility by holding members accountable for their earmarks and reinstating the pay-as-you-go policies that helped bring about balanced budgets in the 1990s.

“Before the State of the Union, we will show the American people that we will change Washington, run the people’s House for the people, and govern effectively and get results,” concluded Hoyer.

To read more about the Democratic rules package, click here.

The rules package is not considered part of the “100 hours.”  The clock will start ticking on the 100 hours next Tuesday, January 9th with debate on the 9/11 Commission recommendations.

To view a calendar of the 100 hours, click here.

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