Walden: ‘This is how you change Washington’
 
September 24, 2009 - WASHINGTON, DC - Just 46 more signatures from members of Congress are needed on a bipartisan petition to require a 72-hour public review period for bills before they’re voted on in the House of Representatives.

Right now, 172 members have signed the petition started yesterday by Reps. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), Brian Baird (D-Wash.), John Culberson (R-Texas), and Walt Minnick (D-Idaho). A majority of House members—218—must sign the petition for a vote to be held on the 72-hour rule. Follow the progress of the petition by clicking here.

“This is how you change Washington,” Walden said. “Rushing bills to a vote before anyone has had a chance to read or understand them has been a bad practice under both Republican and Democratic control of the House. It’s an institutional problem. The public, press, and representatives in Congress should have the right to see and read legislation before it’s brought up on the floor of the House. It doesn’t get more commonsense than that. It’s a reform that’s long overdue.”

Watch Walden’s speech on the House floor by clicking here.

Earlier this year, members, the public, and press were given 12 hours to review the 1,073-page long stimulus bill that cost $787 billion. The cap and trade bill, which would cost $846 billion and weighs in at 1,428 pages, was available for 16.5 hours before the vote. And under Republican rule in 2003, for example, the 852-page Medicare Part D bill was available for 29 hours before a vote was called on the $395 billion legislation.

Yesterday, Walden filed what’s the “discharge petition” to bring H. Res. 554 up for a vote on the House floor.

H. Res. 554 would amend House rules to require that all legislation be readily accessible for public review on the Internet for at least 72 hours before a vote on the House floor. Exceptions would be made for classified material, which would continue to be handled under existing laws and rules. The legislation was introduced by Baird in June. He has introduced it in each of the last three Congresses. Walden has also been a cosponsor in the past.

Representative Greg Walden represents Oregon’s Second Congressional District, which is comprised of 20 counties in eastern, southern, and central Oregon. He is a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.