Read the Bills Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3879 To preserve the constitutional authority of Congress and ensure accountability and transparency in legislation. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 3, 2020 Mr. PAUL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration A BILL To preserve the constitutional authority of Congress and ensure accountability and transparency in legislation. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Read the Bills Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—This Act is enacted pursuant to 6 the power conferred by the Constitution of the United 7 States upon each House of Congress by— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3879.IS S3879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3879 IS (1) article I, section 5, clauses 2 and 3 to deter- 1 mine the rules and keep a journal of its proceedings, 2 respectively; 3 (2) article I, section 7, clause 2 to ensure that 4 bills that become law have been actually passed by, 5 not just passed through, each House of Congress; 6 and 7 (3) article I, section 8, clause 18, which author- 8 izes Congress to make all laws that are necessary 9 and proper for carrying into execution the rules of 10 each House of Congress. 11 (b) STANDING PROVISION.—The provision of this Act 12 under which any person who is aggrieved by the enforce- 13 ment of any law enacted either in violation of the rules 14 of proceedings of either House of Congress, or by the sus- 15 pension of the rules, as prescribed herein, shall have 16 standing in a court of law, is enacted pursuant to article 17 III, section 2 of the Constitution of the United States. 18 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 19 Congress finds the following: 20 (1) The Constitution of the United States vests 21 all legislative powers granted therein in Congress. 22 (2) Each Member of Congress is elected by the 23 people to whom the Member is accountable, and 24 Members must represent the people of their respec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3879.IS S3879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3879 IS tive State or District in exercising their legislative 1 powers. 2 (3) Establishing a Government of enumerated 3 powers, article I, section 1 of the Constitution of the 4 United States obliges Congress to exercise only those 5 legislative powers provided for in the Constitution of 6 the United States, and article VI of the Constitution 7 of the United States requires that each Member of 8 Congress be bound by oath or affirmation to support 9 the Constitution of the United States by enacting 10 only those laws, and making only those resolutions, 11 that are pursuant to the Constitution of the United 12 States and not prohibited thereby. 13 (4) To ensure that Congress is politically and 14 legally accountable to the people, article I, section 5 15 of the Constitution of the United States requires 16 each House of Congress to keep a journal of its pro- 17 ceedings and from time to time publish the same. 18 (5) To ensure that no legislation is passed with- 19 out effective representation of the interests of the 20 people by the elected Members of Congress, article 21 I, section 7 of the Constitution of the United States 22 provides that only a bill ‘‘which shall have passed 23 the House of Representatives and the Senate,’’ and 24 not vetoed by the President, shall ‘‘become a law’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3879.IS S3879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3879 IS (6) According to section I of the Manual of 1 Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the Senate of 2 the United States, written by Thomas Jefferson in 3 1801 (referred to in this section as ‘‘Jefferson’s 4 Manual’’), ‘‘nothing tended more to throw power 5 into the hands of administration and those who 6 acted with the majority . . . than a neglect of, or 7 departure from, the rules of proceeding [which] op- 8 erated as a check and control of the actions of the 9 majority [and] a shelter and protection to the minor- 10 ity’’. 11 (7) According to sections XXII and XL of Jef- 12 ferson’s Manual, it was the rule of the Senate that 13 every bill receive 3 readings, 2 full readings by the 14 Clerk of the Senate, and a third reading of the title 15 of the bill only, because ‘‘every member of the Sen- 16 ate had a printed copy [of the bill] in his hand.’’. 17 (8) According to sections XXIV, XXV, and XL 18 of Jefferson’s Manual, it was the rule of the House 19 of Representatives, following the parliamentary pro- 20 cedure of the English House of Commons, that every 21 bill receive 2 full readings by the Clerk of the House 22 of Representatives, and a reading of the whole con- 23 tents of the bill verbatim by the Speaker of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3879.IS S3879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3879 IS House of Representatives before the House of Rep- 1 resentatives voted on the bill. 2 (9) Under the current rules of the Senate, the 3 Senate has departed from its original practice of a 4 full first and second reading of each bill, and of en- 5 suring that each Senator has a printed or other ver- 6 batim copy of each bill before passage thereof, hav- 7 ing by rule XIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate 8 limited each reading of a bill to the reading of the 9 title of the bill only, unless the Senate in any case 10 shall otherwise order. 11 (10) Under the current rules of the House of 12 Representatives, the House of Representatives has 13 by rule XVI (8) and rule XVIII (5) embraced its 14 original practice of full first and second readings of 15 each bill, but has regularly departed from this prac- 16 tice by unanimous consent of the House of Rep- 17 resentatives, and has dispensed altogether its origi- 18 nal practice of a verbatim third reading of each bill 19 before passage, limiting such third reading to the 20 reading of the title only, including the reading of the 21 title only even when Members of the House of Rep- 22 resentatives have no printed or other verbatim copy 23 of the bill before passage. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3879.IS S3879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3879 IS (11) Although section 106 of title 1, United 1 States Code, requires a bill to be made available in 2 written form to each Member of Congress before 3 final passage, Congress has by statute conferred 4 upon itself the power, during the last 6 days of a 5 session of Congress, by concurrent resolution, to 6 vote for passage of a bill that is not in written form 7 at the time of final passage. 8 (12) As a direct consequence of the departure 9 of the Senate and the House of Representatives 10 from the salutary practice of full, verbatim readings 11 of each bill before final passage, and further, as a 12 direct consequence of Congress, by concurrent reso- 13 lution and otherwise, having permitted certain ap- 14 propriation, budget, and regulatory bills to be en- 15 acted into law without such bills being printed and 16 presented to Congress in written form prior to final 17 passage, Congress has— 18 (A) imposed upon the people of the United 19 States excessively long bills, largely written by 20 an unelected bureaucracy, resulting in generally 21 incomprehensible, cumbersome, oppressive, and 22 burdensome laws, containing hidden provisions 23 for special interests; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3879.IS S3879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3879 IS (B) deprived the people of the United 1 States and their elected Senators and Members 2 of a full and fair opportunity to examine the 3 text of bills, and all amendments thereto, prior 4 to passage; 5 (C) undermined the confidence of the peo- 6 ple of the United States as a result of its fail- 7 ure to provide adequate notice to the people be- 8 fore a vote is taken on the bills and amend- 9 ments thereto; and 10 (D) has called into question the integrity 11 and reliability of the legislative processes in 12 both Houses of Congress by its failure to en- 13 sure that each Senator and each Member of the 14 House of Representatives has, prior to passage, 15 either listened attentively to the reading of the 16 full text of each bill, and amendments thereto, 17 or has personally read the text thereof. 18 (13) Federal law currently sets forth various re- 19 quirements relating to the form of bills and resolu- 20 tions, and the procedure for enacting laws, includ- 21 ing— 22 (A) the form of the enacting clause of all 23 Acts of Congress (section 101 of title 1, United 24 States Code); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3879.IS S3879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3879 IS (B) the form of the resolving clause of all 1 joint resolutions (section 102 of title 1, United 2 States Code); 3 (C) a limitation on the use of enacting or 4 resolving words (section 103 of title 1, United 5 States Code); 6 (D) the requirement regarding the num- 7 bering of sections and the requirement that 8 each contain a single proposition (section 104 9 of title 1, United States Code); 10 (E) the style and title for all bills making 11 appropriations (section 105 of title 1, United 12 States Code); and 13 (F) the process by which each bill or joint 14 resolution is handled after passage (section 106 15 of title 1, United States Code). 16 SEC. 4. TEXT OF BILL OR RESOLUTION TO SPECIFY ITS 17 CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY, CURRENT 18 LAW. 19 Chapter 2 of title 1, United States Code, is amended 20 by inserting after section 105 the following: 21 ‘‘§ 105a. Text of bill or resolution to specify its con- 22 stitutional authority 23 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3879.IS S3879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3879 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any bill or resolution intro- 1 duced in either House of Congress shall contain a 2 provision citing the specific powers granted to Con- 3 gress in the Constitution of the United States to 4 enact the proposed bill or resolution, including all 5 the provisions thereof. 6 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Any bill or resolu- 7 tion that does not comply with paragraph (1) shall 8 not be accepted by the Clerk of the House of Rep- 9 resentatives or the Secretary of the Senate. 10 ‘‘(b) FLOOR CONSIDERATION.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of sub- 12 section (a)(1) shall apply to any bill or resolution 13 presented for consideration on the floor of either 14 House of Congress, including a bill or resolution re- 15 ported from a committee of either House of Con- 16 gress, produced by conference between the 2 Houses 17 of Congress, or offered as a manager’s amendment. 18 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Any bill or resolu- 19 tion that does not comply with paragraph (1) shall 20 not be submitted for a vote on final passage. 21 ‘‘(c) NO WAIVER OR MODIFICATION.—Neither House 22 of Congress, nor Congress jointly, by concurrent resolu- 23 tion, unanimous consent, or any other order, resolution, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3879.IS S3879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3879 IS vote, or other means, may dispense with, or otherwise 1 waive or modify, the requirements under this section. 2 ‘‘§ 105b. Text of bill or resolution to set forth current 3 law 4 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any bill or resolution intro- 6 duced in either House of Congress that is intended 7 to amend or modify the effect of, or would have the 8 effect of amending or modifying the effect of, any 9 current provision of law, including the expiration 10 date of any law, shall set forth— 11 ‘‘(A) the current version of the entire sec- 12 tion of the current law that the bill or resolu- 13 tion proposes to amend, verbatim; 14 ‘‘(B) the amendments proposed in the bill 15 or resolution; and 16 ‘‘(C) the section of law as it would read as 17 modified by the amendments proposed, except 18 that this subparagraph shall not apply to any 19 bill or resolution that would strike the text of 20 an entire section of a law. 21 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Any bill or resolu- 22 tion that does not comply with paragraph (1) shall 23 not be accepted by the Clerk of the House of Rep- 24 resentatives or the Secretary of the Senate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3879.IS S3879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3879 IS ‘‘(b) FLOOR CONSIDERATION.— 1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The requirements under 2 subsection (a)(1) shall apply to any bill or resolution 3 presented for consideration on the floor of either 4 House of Congress, including a bill or resolution re- 5 ported from a committee of either House of Con- 6 gress, produced by conference between the 2 Houses 7 of Congress, or offered as a manager’s amendment. 8 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Any bill or resolu- 9 tion that does not comply with paragraph (1) shall 10 not be submitted to a vote on final passage. 11 ‘‘(c) NO WAIVER OR MODIFICATION.—Neither House 12 of Congress, nor Congress jointly, by concurrent resolu- 13 tion, unanimous consent, or any other order, resolution, 14 vote, or other means, may dispense with, or otherwise 15 waive or modify, the requirements under this section. 16 ‘‘§ 105c. Procedures prior to vote on bill or resolution 17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 18 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS FOR VOTE.—A vote on 19 final passage of a bill (except for private bills) or a 20 resolution may not occur in either House of Con- 21 gress, unless— 22 ‘‘(A) the full text of the bill or resolution 23 is published at least 7 days before the vote on 24 an official Internet website of each House of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3879.IS S3879 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3879 IS Congress, easily available to and readily usable 1 by the public, using an open format that is 2 platform independent, machine readable, and 3 available without restrictions on searchability, 4 retrieval, downloading, and indexing, separate 5 and apart from the calendar of the Senate or 6 the House of Representatives; 7 ‘‘(B) public noti [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]