"This year a Democratic majority took power on Capitol Hill. But new leadership has done nothing to address an old problem: Lawmakers racing to pass bills they haven't actually read." - Ed Feulner, Washington Times

We most certainly agree. Last week, the Senate passed 314 pages of legislation. Not to be outdone, the House passed a whopping 646 pages. If the parties won't change, we must change the process. And that is why we are pressuring Congress to pass the Read the Bills Act.

"Johnson said the new bill was a political ploy. It was about 300 pages long and introduced around midnight the night before with 'zero input' from moderate Republicans who didn't even know it was coming, he said.'We had, literally, an hour to look at it, read 300 pages,' he added. - Debra Pressey, News-Gazette

Rep. Johnson, we applaud your conscientious concern about not having time to read the bill before voting on it. Does this mean we can expect you to vote against any bill you haven't read? Does this mean we can expect you to introduce the Read the Bills Act?

"The truth is, S. 2084 -- and its House counterpart, H.R. 2640 -- may claim to deal with 'school safety,' but its real aim is to take away people's gun rights. ... Read the ENTIRE BILL, not just a few lines here and there. And after you've read the bill, please look at the underlying law and regulations which are referenced in the bill." - Pre-written letter to Senators from Gun Owners of America.

We agree with Gun Owners of America, but they really shouldn't have to make this request. It should be EXPECTED that legislators read and fully understand the bills they are considering. Indeed, it should be the LAW.

Szandor Blestman and John Wallace explain why we need the RTBA:

"It just makes sense that lawmakers should be required to read any bill to be put to a vote before voting on it. After all, isn’t that what we’re paying them for? How can they represent you if they don’t even know what the bills they’re voting on say? Are we supposed to trust their staffers and the lobbyists they work with to be honest with them about the meanings of the bills they vote on? ... To vote for or against a bill on the word of another without reading and understanding it is not how one should go about representing the people of one’s district, it is foolish and it is negligent. - Szandor Blestman, American Chronicle

The 'Read the Bills Act' would not only eliminate a lot of poor legislation, it would also encourage elected representatives to propose legislation that is brief, understandable and to the point. The openness of the process will help reduce or possibly even eliminate the current practice of adding billions of dollars of non-related pork barrel amendments to 'must pass' budget measures and other key legislation. - John W. Wallace, candidate for Congress, News Blaze

If you agree with Mr. Blestman and Mr. Wallace, tell your Representative! Tell you Senators! And please tell them to pass the Read the Bills Act.

After you do this, please use our tell-a-friend feature. And if you have a website, tell your readers too! One easy way to do that is to join the Read the Bills Act Coalition. You will drive traffic to our RTBA page, and we will link to you at our blog. To learn more, click here.

This week we welcome three new members to the Coalition:

Yearning to Breathe Free

No Socialism in the United States

Twan's List

Finally, for a list of the bills the Senate and House passed last week, please check out the blog version of this Dispatch.

Thank you for being a DC Downsizer.

James Wilson

Assistant to the President

DownsizeDC.org

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