[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 25695]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          CONGRESS MUST BE TRANSPARENT WITH VITAL LEGISLATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Michigan (Mrs. Miller) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Madam Speaker, our Nation currently has an 
unemployment rate of nearly 10 percent. In my home State of Michigan, 
it's actually over 15 percent. In the last fiscal year, our Federal 
budget deficit was over $1.4 trillion; and the Obama administration 
projects that over the next 10 years, our deficit will be over $9 
trillion.
  When dealing with our budget, difficult times like these require very 
decisive actions. Unfortunately, over the last year or so, as this 
Congress has racked up record-breaking deficits, we have seen 
legislation brought to the floor that forced massive new debt on the 
American people while giving Members little or no time to read any of 
the legislation.
  Last fall, the Bush administration and the leadership of this House 
asked the House to vote on a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street with 
no strings attached on how the money would be spent. I was proud to 
vote ``no'' on that Wall Street bailout. Unfortunately, that bill did 
pass this House, and it became law. The result has been a program that 
has been widely rejected by the American people.
  Then in February, President Obama asked Congress to pass an economic 
stimulus plan, and many on our side of the aisle were ready to help. In 
fact, we proposed a bill that, according to a formula used by President 
Obama's own economic advisers, would produce twice the jobs at half the 
cost. Instead, the Democrats crafted a bill behind closed doors. They 
filed a 1,073-page conference report in the middle of the night and 
asked Members of this House to vote on $787 billion of deficit spending 
while not one single Member of this House, nor the American people, had 
the chance to read the bill before we cast our votes.
  Then in June, this House voted on a cap-and-trade national energy tax 
that would fundamentally change our economy. This bill totaled 1,428 
pages, including a 300-plus page manager's amendment. The Rules 
Committee and the Democratic leadership gave us about 16 hours to read 
the bill and the amendment before it was voted on. Only after the fact 
did we see a memo produced within the Obama administration that 
indicated that the bill would cost every single American household an 
average of $1,700 per year in higher energy costs.
  Madam Speaker, we will soon consider health care legislation that 
will have a far-reaching impact on one of the most personal issues 
facing every American, and that is how they will protect the health of 
themselves and their families. Nobody knows what this legislation will 
look like. Nobody knows how much it will cost. Nobody knows when it 
will be brought to the floor. But every American has a vital stake in 
the outcome of the legislation.
  Many Members of this House from both parties have had enough and are 
insisting that we bring transparency into the process before a vote is 
taken, and the American people are demanding the opportunity to be able 
to read the legislation that their Representatives will be voting on 
before the vote so that their voices can be heard. That is why I am 
proud to cosponsor H. Res. 554 which would require that all major 
legislation, significant amendments and conference reports be available 
in their entirety on the Internet so that Members can read the 
legislation before casting their votes and so that the American people 
can have some opportunity to have their voices heard. If legislation 
that will govern more than one-sixth of our economy comes to the floor, 
don't Members as well as the American people deserve a chance to at 
least read it?
  President Obama ran last year on a platform of openness and 
transparency, but unfortunately, it has been business as usual in 
Washington. We have had limited to no transparency. We have not had a 
chance to read important legislation before asking for us to vote on 
this legislation. I would urge my fellow Members who have not signed on 
as cosponsors of this important resolution to join us in an effort to 
bring transparency to the process, to join us in demanding that we in 
Congress cast an informed vote on important legislation that will 
impact every American, to join us in allowing the American people to 
have their voices heard. The Members of this House and, most 
importantly, Madam Speaker, the American people deserve no less.

                          ____________________