When we elect our Congressmen and Senators, what we hope is that they will enact laws that will be in the best interest of the people of America. We expect that they won’t vote for things because the special interests wants them to (but they do) and we expect that they will ensure that what is being voted on is important for the American people. These aren’t “out of this world” expectations. We want to know that the right laws are being enacted.

In the previous few weeks, there has been a growing movement called Read the Bill. I happened across their website, ReadTheBill.org, and I was amazed how many very important bills were signed into law in a short amount of time. We’re not talking a week. We’re not even talking a few days. We’re talking some of the most pivotal bills that were signed being reviewed and voted on in less than twenty four hours.

Congressmen only had thirteen hours to read the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (TARP) which sent $789 billion to different financial institutions. This document was eleven hundred pages long. How can a congressman read that many pages in thirteen hours? It’s impossible.

Here’s another one: the PATRIOT Act. How many hours would be necessary for a congressman to effectively review the 241 page document? A lot more than zero. The very same day that it was introduced, it was voted on and it passed. More civil liberties lost without even twenty four hours having gone by.

How can the United States honestly stand by and watch as our representatives don’t take the time to review bills that are brought before the Congress? House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Democrat from Maryland said, “If every member pledged to not vote for [the health care bill] if they hadn’t read it in its entirety, I think we would have very few votes.” Absolutely! If the congressmen had the time to read the entire document, they’d see all the little extras that have been thrown in there to benefit the special interests.

If the elected official does not feel like reading the document, he or she should not be allowed to vote. There should be a seventy two hour period of time where the bill is posted on the internet for the common constituent to read and argue against. Yes, these people are our elected officials. However, they represent us and with the internet, it should give the voter the opportunity to know what their officials are signing in. Furthermore, this seventy two hour buffer would provide ample opportunity for the representative to read the bill.

If a bill is too long to be read in seventy two hours, there’s a problem. What fluff has been added? What politics has been done? If a bill is so urgent that it needs to be passed immediately, keep it simple. Keep the bill about the topic and don’t throw the special interests into it. Seventy two hours is not that much to ask for. Three days to read a document is fine. However, it is irresponsible and ignorant to vote on a bill without reading it. I wouldn’t sign a contract without reading the details. Why are they signing away billions and billions of dollars without reading the details? Is it because they don’t have to pay for it? If so, get them out of office. It’s about time our representatives do their job and represent us fairly. I’m tired of paying because they’re too lazy. If this is something that bothers you, contact your local representative. Get your voice heard. Make them read the bill.

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