Reichert Urges Increased Transparency: Publish Committee Votes Within 48 Hours
“The American people should know how their representatives vote in all cases”
Washington, DC,
Oct 28 -
Congressman Dave Reichert (WA-08) today introduced legislation that would enhance government transparency, allowing Americans greater access to each and every vote their representative takes – not only those taken on the floor of the House. The proposal, House Resolution 874, would require each of the 21 standing Committees in the U.S. House of Representatives to post record votes on their websites within 48 hours.
“The American people deserve to know how their representatives vote in all cases, and frankly, in the current information age it makes no sense that we’re not already providing this service,” Reichert said. “Now more than ever, when we're debating a trillion-dollar health overhaul, constituents deserve to know how legislation takes shape – throughout the entire process. Government transparency is the key to a healthy, thriving democracy, and by using the existing official committee websites, we can offer this information in a way that’s fiscally responsible and easy for people to find.”
“The American people deserve to know how their elected representatives vote in committee on the issues that matter to them,” said Republican Leader John Boehner (R, OH-08). “Dave Reichert’s resolution will make that possible by requiring committees to post members’ votes online within 48 hours of any committee vote. This is a common-sense reform that should have been adopted a long time ago in Congress. I’m pleased to support the Reichert resolution, and I’m calling on Speaker Pelosi to schedule it for an immediate vote.”
Background:
To address the inequity that exists with regard to taxpayer access to such information, H.Res. 874, is an additional component of Congressman Reichert’s recently introduced Common Cents Agenda. A variety of legislation constitutes this initiative which is targeted to ensure government is transparent and accountable to taxpayers. For example, providing a full picture of members’ support or opposition to a proposal would have revealed that during the debate on the trillion-dollar government-run health care overhaul, 38 amendments were considered in House Ways and Means Committee, but 0 passed. Posting votes on official Committee websites, then, is a fiscally responsible transparency measure that would provide constituents a critical view of what their Member supports at every point in the legislative process.
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