[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 198 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 198

   Expressing the sense of the Senate that any sweeping health care 
  legislation must be drafted in public under the watchful eye of the 
                      people of the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 21, 2017

 Mr. Tester submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
               the Committee on Rules and Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the Senate that any sweeping health care 
  legislation must be drafted in public under the watchful eye of the 
                      people of the United States.

Whereas the people of the United States deserve and demand that legislation be 
        created through a transparent, bipartisan process to ensure that they 
        can hold their elected representatives accountable;
Whereas the proper functioning of representative democracy requires full 
        transparency in the legislative process;
Whereas it has been widely reported that a group of Senators is working 
        privately in a partisan fashion to craft national health care 
        legislation in the Senate;
Whereas this group is secretly gathering in closed-door meetings that exclude 
        the public and press;
Whereas Senate leadership has refused to commit to holding a single public 
        hearing on this legislation before going directly to the Senate floor 
        for a vote;
Whereas the draft health care legislation under consideration by a secretive 
        group is one of the largest public policy reforms taken up by Congress 
        in generations;
Whereas this legislation will affect the lives of all people in the United 
        States;
Whereas health care constitutes \1/6\ of the gross domestic product of the 
        United States; and
Whereas Congress is elected by the people to serve the people: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the creation of 
any sweeping health care legislation must be done in a transparent, 
bipartisan manner in full view of the people of the United States and 
not behind closed doors.
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