We like one-page bills. They are the next best thing to no bills at all. They are short and to the point. But there's something odd about this process.

You see, the Senate also passed H.R. 3074, a 164-page bill funding Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and "related" agencies, costing taxpayers many tens of billions of dollars. If it takes a separate bill every time Congress wants to name a stretch of road or a post office after somebody, shouldn't Congress also have a separate bill to fund each federal department and agency?

When Congress passes a large, multi-subject funding bill, we know that most members probably didn't like many parts of the bill, yet felt obliged to vote for it in order to keep "essential" services running. We also know that the larger the bill, the less likely it was actually read before Congress passed it. This means the taxpayers were not represented. This means they were cheated. That is why we need the Read the Bills Act.

Under the Read the Bills Act, each bill must be read in its entirety before a quorum in both the House and the Senate. This will force Congress to write shorter bills, which means they will stop combining unrelated subjects into the same bill. Unpopular provisions couldn't be secretly inserted into otherwise popular and necessary legislation. Moreover, each bill will be posted on the Internet for seven days before being voted on, so there will be time for Congress to receive feedback from the people.

Tell Congress you don't want mammoth funding bills passed all at once. Tell them it is our money they are spending, and that funding for each department and agency should be considered separately, unlike H.R. 3074. Also, tell Congress we want the Read the Bills Act. You can do so here.

We also invite you to add your website or blog to the Read the Bills Act Coalition. This helps us spread the word about the RTBA, and we will post your link on our blog. To learn more about the Coalition, click here.

This week we welcome three new members to the Read the Bills Act Coalition

Rant(hony)-ings

GARKO

NoSSN

A listing of the bills Congress passed last week is available in the blog version of this Dispatch.

Thank you for being a DC Downsizer.

Sincerely,

James Wilson

Assistant to the President

DownsizeDC.org

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