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Downsizer Dispatch: "A Committee Reads the Bill"

James Wilson - Assistant to the President-Downsize

days, if not weeks, looking at each department. Instead, these lengthy bills were rushed through along with dozens of others. A full list of the bills Congress passed is available in the blog version of this Dispatch.

There was one refreshing development. On Thursday, ranking minority member Rep. McCrery of Louisiana forced the House Ways and Means committee to do something it rarely does: read the 481-page bill they were considering. That's right - not even Congressional committees bother to read bills drawn up by committee staffers and/or Administration bureaucrats. Otherwise, Congressional Quarterly wouldn't have found it newsworthy. See the story here.

Rep. McCrery's move may have been a stunt, a stalling tactic because he was upset with the Democrat majority in the committee. But we applaud Mccrery's move, and encourage other members of Congress to pull this "stunt" in their own committees. It will guarantee that at least some members of Congress will have actually taken the time to read the bills they pass.

But, of course, it's not nearly enough. What we really need is the Read the Bills Act to force all members of Congress to read all the bills they pass. You can learn more about the Read the Bills Act here.

And you can tell Congress to pass the Read the Bills Act here.

Want to do more? After you send your message, magnify your voice by telling your friends about the RTBA. And we invite you to join the Read the Bills Act Coalition. It's quick, its easy, and it will get your website a link from us! Join here.

We welcome yet another member of the Coalition:

Alex's Journal

Thank you for being a DC Downsizer

James Wilson

Assistant to the President

DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

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