WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, signed a pledge that he will not vote to enact any healthcare reform package that he hasn’t read or that hasn’t been made available online to the public. Rehberg has repeated criticized the practice of voting on legislation without giving members of Congress time to read it. The pledge is circulated by the non-partisan organization Let Freedom Ring.

In February Congress passed a so-called "stimulus" bill that was the largest spending bill in American history. Members of Congress were given only 13 hours to examine the bill, which was 1,100 pages long. At the time, Rehberg said, "The bill was dropped on us [the U.S. House] at 11 o’clock at night. I would have had to read each and every page in that bill in 24 seconds or less. That’s how much time we had."

In June, a 300-page amendment was added to the Cap and Tax bill at 3 a.m. on the day the bill was passed in the House. The complete bill was never made available in its entirety by the time of the vote. Even more troubling, Speaker Pelosi demanded a vote on the legislation even though it included blank pages as placeholders for portions that would be added later.

"Montanans expect and deserve an open and transparent government, but that’s pretty hard to have when a bill is voted on before anyone has a chance to read it," said Rehberg, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. "We won’t be remembered for how fast we acted in Congress, but we will be remembered for how well we acted."

The pledge reads:

I, Denny Rehberg, pledge to my constituents and to the American people that I will not vote to enact any healthcare reform package that:

1) I have not read, personally, in its entirety; and,

2) Has not been available, in its entirety, to the American people on the Internet for at least 72 hours, so that they can read it too.

Rehberg’s signing of the pledge, along with his reasons for doing so, were posted in a video on YouTube and Facebook. Those can be viewed here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4McqIGfWQTI

 "We applaud Congressman Rehberg for making himself accountable to his constituents by signing a simple, nonpartisan transparency pledge," said Let Freedom Ring President Colin Hanna. "As we’ve seen time and time again, Congress has rammed through major pieces of legislation that no one read or had time to debate. The consequences for the country are disastrous. Rushing through legislation of this magnitude is not healthy for democracy and we’re deeply concerned that Congress will thwart the will of the people by not even reviewing the details of the bill."

"Congressman Rehberg has once again proven himself a leader by committing to open government," said Steve Dogiakos, founder of Just Citizens in Missoula. "Posting bills on the internet before voting on them allows public comment and creates an environment that encourages political participation."

"The people of Montana will rightly hold their elected representatives accountable for the votes they cast," said Rehberg. "They’d have a right to be upset if I supported legislation that I didn’t even read, so this pledge is really just a formal declaration of an unspoken understanding I already have with Montanans."