It's January 1st, so time to look towards goals for the year ahead. Last month, four House members - David Obey (WI-07), Barney Frank (MA-04), David Price (NC-04) and Tom Allen (ME-01) - released a proposal for improving functioning in the House of Representatives, entitled
Amending the Rules of the House to Protect the Integrity of the Institution. In other words, for rolling back many of Tom Delay & Co's heavy-handed procedural power tactics and institutionalized cronyism & corruption. We've heard of most of the abuses, piecemeal, but it's disturbing and sobering to see it all laid out together.
For some reason, I couldn't find this diaried here on dKos, though other blogs had some discussion. It's worthy of attention here, so I propose that it amounts to an excellent 14-point New Year's Resolution for the House. Full text of proposal & other discussion below the fold.
Released 12/5/05 in a presentation entitled
A Proposal to Make Congress Work Again: A Panel Discussion on Proposed Changes in the Rules and Procedures of the U.S. House of Representatives, with the Center for American Progress, it's been broadcast on C-Span a few times. There's little or no prospect that these will be enacted until the Dems retake the House. When that happens, perhaps they can hold off for a year or so, until they've undone some of the other damage Delay &c. have visited upon the country. The document (pdf) can be found
here, together with a 26-page
transcript of the panel discussion where it was unveiled (also pdf).
David Broder wrote a largely favorable column about these proposals, which Rep. Allen reprints at his website:
If the House of Representatives were a person, it would be blushing these days. Unfortunately, the House is beyond embarrassment.
...
The place needs a good scrubbing, and that is what it would get if the leadership were somehow to embrace a set of rules changes put forward this week by several longtime members. But because the authors are Democrats -- and in some cases liberal as well -- the receptivity of the Republicans managing the House is not likely to be great.
...
It is strong medicine -- a stiff enough dose of salts that even a watered-down version would mark a major change in the ethical environment of Capitol Hill.
Though he went on to cast aspersions on the Dems motives and willingness to stick to it if/when they take back the House.
The Democrats' record during their 40-year reign in the House gives reason for skepticism. But something must be done to cleanse the House -- and this points the way.
Additional discussion can be found at:
Didn't find opinion other than Broder, and didn't find news coverage other than Milwaukee paper, perhaps because Obey's from Wisconsin. Presumably, the proposal's considered a non-starter since the Dems don't hold power. Though in light of steady stream of corruption stories, the press might want to consider the content.
There was a diary at the time which talked about this event, mostly as well-deserved praise of Rep. Price from a constituent. It didn't go into the content of the proposal. At any rate, most of us have heard most of this at one time or another in the news. But considered as a whole, it amounts to a harsh condemnation of the GOP's methods of doing business on Capitol Hill. It being Sunday, I'll quote from Price (in an essay released the same week) entitled Theological Roots of Humility in Politics:
Humility is out of fashion these days. Political leaders, advocates, and pundits often display an in-your-face assertiveness, seeming to equate uncertainty or even reflectiveness with weakness and a lack of moral fiber. Much of our nation and its leadership are in no mood to doubt their own righteousness. As the "Power of Pride" bumper stickers proliferate, it may be jarring to recognize that the apostle Paul regarded people's tendency to prideful self-glorification to be the very essence of sin.
He closes with quote from Abe Lincoln, which fellow North Carolinian John Edwards also made good use of in 2004.
On another occasion, responding to a clergyman who expressed the hope that the Lord was on the side of the Union, Lincoln reportedly said, "I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord's side." That is indeed the crucial question: Are we on the Lord's side? We ought never to lose awareness of God's transcendence and of the constant temptation to identify God's will with our own.
Full text of the fourteen points:
- No member or staff of the House of Representatives may accept travel or lodging or reimbursement for such expenses if he or she has not obtained from the sponsor, and filed with the Clerk of the House, the following declarations:
(a) that no lobbyists have been invited to travel, lodge or attend meetings with the Member or staff,
(b) that the sponsor does not conduct lobbying activities as defined in section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code,
(c) that the sponsor neither employs a registered lobbyist nor contracts for such services nor is it affiliated with such an entity, and
(d) that the trip was not financed by a corporation unless through contributions deductible under the Internal Revenue Code and the source of all such contributions are disclosed in the declaration.
- Any former Member of the House who wishes to exercise the right to be present on the Floor of the House when the House is in session must sign a declaration stating that the House is not debating or voting on an issue on which the former member has a financial interest and that the former member will not advocate in any way in behalf of or in opposition to any matter before the House while present on the floor.
FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
- A reconciliation measure shall not be in order if it would increase the size of the budget deficit compared to the CBO baseline for the coming or subsequent fiscal years. This rule may be waived only with the consent of the majority and minority leaders and if the House agrees to consider the rule by a 2/3 vote of the House.
- Close the loophole in current rules under which Budget Act points of order do not apply to unreported legislation. Under present rules, amendments to an unreported measure are subject to Budget Act restrictions but the underlying bill is not.
CURBING ABUSES OF POWER
- No recorded vote in the House of Representatives or the committee of the Whole House can last longer than 20 minutes without the consent of either both Floor managers or of both Leaders.
- Amend the House Ethics Code to make it an offense for a Member to condition funding for earmarks requested by another Member on how the requesting Member votes on legislation.
- Amend the House Ethics Code to make it an offense for any Member to advocate an earmark unless that Member discloses whether he or she either has a financial interest in the entity or exercises any control over it, such as appointing members of the organization's board.
- If a rule makes in order text that is different from what the committee of jurisdiction has reported, the rule must provide the chairman or ranking minority member, if requested, a preferential amendment - neither divisible nor amendable unless adopted and all necessary points of order waived - to restore the bill (in whole or in part) to its original form.
- A rule may waive points of order against a measure but only if the rule also waives the same points of order for an amendment if requested by the minority leader or designee.
ENDING TWO-DAY WORK WEEKS
- Before the House can adjourn at the end of a session, the House must have conducted 20 or more weeks with at least one recorded vote or quorum call on at least four of the five calendar work days.
KNOWING WHAT THE HOUSE IS VOTING ON
- Except for measures on the suspension calendar, the House cannot consider legislation unless printed copies of such legislation have been available to all members of the House for a period of 24 hours. This rule can be waived only if two-thirds of the House votes to consider such a waiver.
FULL AND OPEN DEBATE IN CONFERENCE
- It shall not be in order for the House to agree to go to conference on a general appropriation bill unless the Senate expresses its differences with the House in the form of numbered amendments.
- It shall not be in order to consider a conference report unless there has been a formal open meeting of the conference at which all provisions on which the two bodies disagree are open to discussion and the resolution of the differences between the two bodies is approved by a recorded vote of a majority of House appointed conferees. The requirement that the discussion and votes stipulated in this rule must be held in open session may be waived for purposes of national security, but such votes and discussions are required in the executive session of the conference. This rule cannot be waived by majority vote but can be waived by unanimous consent.
- It shall not be in order to consider any conference report that is materially different from what was agreed to by a majority of House conferees in an open session of the conference and was not part of the final package on which a favorable vote was cast by a majority of House Conferees. This rule cannot be waived by majority vote but can be waived by unanimous consent.No member or staff of the House
Haven't figured out my own New Year's Resolution yet. Last year's was grand, to build a shed. So maybe this year's should be more mundane: How about to floss daily?