Tony Perkins Washington Update
Reading legislation is overrated--or so says the second most powerful man in the House of Representatives. When asked by reporters if he and his colleagues planned to study the health care reform bill before they vote on it House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) actually burst out laughing.
If every member pledged not to vote for it if they hadnt read it in its entirety I think we would have very few votes he said at his weekly news conference. Im laughing because I dont know how long this bill is going to be he told reporters but its going to be very long.
Not only do House leaders think its ridiculous to read the bill but they refuse to make it available to voters who would. For weeks the text of the legislation which could cost upwards of $1.5 trillion dollars has been a well-kept secret--breaking yet another White House promise for sunlight before signing.
During the campaign Barack Obama said he wanted to bring more transparency to the legislative process. One would think this would be particularly important as he plans to make taxpayers foot the bill for one of the most expensive programs in the nations history.
To help bring more details to light Colin Hannas organization Let Freedom Ring has launched a pledge drive in Congress asking members to promise that they would read the full bill before voting on it. I think if the framers of our Constitution ever saw an entire legislative body vote on a 1500-page bill that no one had read Hanna told reporters they would shudder.
Congress is spending trillions of our dollars at breakneck speed but members cant slow down long enough to understand what theyre spending it on? If a nation expects to be ignorant and free...it expects what never was and never will be warned Thomas Jefferson.
Regardless of whether or not they read and understand the legislation FRC will continue working around-the-clock to ensure that members do understand that voters are overwhelmingly opposed to the portion of the bill dedicated to taxpayer-funded abortion. Join the movement to keep hard-working Americans out of the abortion business! Sign our petition to ban abortion coverage in health care reform by visiting
www.frc.org.
