Sunday, September 02, 2007

Fiduciary Responsibility: "Read the Bill Act"

Wow! Now here's a not only reasonable, but highly ethical piece of proposed legislation! The RTBA--"Read the Bills Act."

As DownsizeDC comments,
Most Congressmen are lawyers, and many others are businessmen. They know what "fiduciary responsibility" is. For Members of Congress, fiduciary responsibility means reading each word of every bill before they vote.

But Congress has not met this duty for a long time.


Boy! I know what fiduciary responsibility means for me as a business owner and board member! . . . If I let something untoward happen on my "watch," I'm in big trouble!

So how do our congressional representatives get away with not reading the laws they are seeking to pass?
RTBA requires that . . .
  • Each bill, and every amendment, must be read in its entirety before a quorum in both the House and Senate.

  • Every member of the House and Senate must sign a sworn affidavit, under penalty of perjury, that he or she has attentively either personally read, or heard read, the complete bill to be voted on.

  • Every old law coming up for renewal under the sunset provisions must also be read according to the same rules that apply to new bills.

  • Every bill to be voted on must be published on the Internet at least 7 days before a vote, and Congress must give public notice of the date when a vote will be held on that bill.

  • Passage of a bill that does not abide by these provisions will render the measure null and void, and establish grounds for the law to be challenged in court.

  • Congress cannot waive these requirements.
See more at DownsizeDC. --I'm "all for" this proposed legislation! (Shall we make it a Constitutional amendment?
blog comments powered by Disqus