[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 122 (Thursday, August 6, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S9045]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 246--REQUIRING THAT LEGISLATION CONSIDERED BY THE 
                SENATE TO BE CONFINED TO A SINGLE ISSUE

  Mr. ENZI (for himself and Mr. Barrasso) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules and 
Administration:

                              S. Res. 246

       Resolved,

     SECTION 1. SINGLE ISSUE REQUIREMENT.

       (a) Point of Order.--It shall not be in order in the Senate 
     to consider a bill or resolution that is not confined to a 
     single subject.
       (b) Supermajority Waiver and Appeals.--
       (1) Waiver.--This section may be waived or suspended in the 
     Senate only by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the 
     Members, duly chosen and sworn.
       (2) Appeals.--Appeals in the Senate from the decisions of 
     the Chair relating to any provision of this section shall be 
     limited to 30 minutes, to be equally divided between, and 
     controlled by, the appellant and the manager of the bill or 
     joint resolution. An affirmative vote of two-thirds of the 
     Members of the Senate, duly chosen and sworn, shall be 
     required to sustain an appeal of the ruling of the Chair on a 
     point of order raised under this section.

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the legislative 
climate the United States Senate has found itself operating in. Like 
many of my colleagues, I began my political career in local government. 
I was mayor in my hometown and then served as a legislator in the 
Wyoming State Legislature. It was during this time I learned that the 
most effective legislation comes from a process that is transparent and 
focused. For example, the Wyoming State Legislature requires that all 
bills must be focused on one issue. They cannot be loaded up with 
random provisions, riders, and add-ons that have nothing to do with the 
overall legislation. In Congress, we often use omnibus bills to pass 
multiple legislative items that should be considered on their own 
merit. Omnibus often create more problems in the long run than they 
solve.
  Instead of focusing on one policy issue at a time, we have allowed 
legislative logjams to foul up the Senate's work and ill-considered 
legislation to be hastily pushed through this institution. These 
legislative practices, which have become the norm are a gangrene that 
eats away at this institution.
  Legislation that is fundamental to our country's wellbeing has become 
politicized and burdened with extraneous provisions that have not been 
fully vetted through the regular order. Most of the time Members have 
not had the opportunity to read the bills they are voting on, let alone 
the public which will have to live under and pay for whatever lurks in 
the unseen pages. By tolerating this behavior, the Senate is allowing 
legislation needed to address our Nation's most pressing challenges to 
go through unrefined and lousy with special interest provisions.
  To help bring this institution back in line with its original 
purpose, today I submit my Single Issue Legislation resolution. I want 
this resolution to be a starting point for changing the attitude the 
Senate has toward building bills. It will allow us to focus on getting 
individual issues addressed more effectively. Specifically, this 
resolution enacts a standing order that creates a point of order 
against a bill or resolution that is not confined to a single issue. 
This point of order can only be overruled by a supermajority.
  My Single Issue Legislation gives the Senate the flexibility in the 
amendment process it has always enjoyed and allows the Senate as a 
legislative body to develop the structure and scope of the standing 
order through practice and precedent rather than through arbitrary 
rules. At the same time, we ensure that our legislative process is 
focused and productive. In short, we bring ourselves back to how the 
Founding Fathers intended and wanted our legislative process to 
operate.
  Our job is not to score political points by stuffing as many pet 
projects and knee-jerk provisions as we can into bills, but rather to 
represent the needs of our constituents, our States, and our country by 
doing what is best for us as a nation. We must get back to a better 
process for crafting and considering legislation so that we can enact 
effective policies to meet the many challenges we face today. This is 
why we were elected to serve in the United States Senate. We owe it to 
the people we represent to work through a process that allows 
legislation to be properly and thoroughly considered and debated. My 
Single Issue Legislation resolution helps us do just that.

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