AP Photo: U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI)
U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) laid the truth on everyone earlier this week when he admitted the impossibility of reading a thousand page bill and understanding it.
At the National Press Club, Mr. Conyers said:
“I love these members that get up and say, Read the bill! Well, what good is reading the bill if it's a thousand pages and you don't have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you've read the bill?” The video is here.
He is absolutely right; no one would fault Mr. Conyers for being insincere. Here is a random sample of a paragraph from H.R. 3200, the health care bill moving through House committees:
“(A) IN GENERAL- Subject to subparagraph (B), the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall, under the system for payment of skilled nursing facility services under section 1888(e) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395yy(e)), increase payment by 10 percent for non-therapy ancillary services (as specified by the Secretary in the notice issued on November 27, 1998 (63 Federal Register 65561 et seq.)) and shall decrease payment for the therapy case mix component of such rates by 5.5 percent.”
But of course his statement does not justify Members of Congress not reading the legislation they vote on. It just lays bare an ugly truth: Members of Congress either cannot or will not perform the most basic duty of their office: understand, evaluate and debate proposed new laws and register their votes on them.
The organization Let Freedom Ring has been conducting a campaign to gather pledges from Members of Congress that they will read the health care reform bill before voting on it. So far only 101 Members have signed it – just 7 from the Senate. In North Carolina, only Rep. Sue Myrick (R) and Rep. Virginia Foxx (R ) have signed it.
Reading the bill with assistance from an attorney would be a good idea, given its gargantuan scope. The legislation in the House would create or expand 53 offices, commissions, bureaus, or programs. The word “shall” appears in the bill 1,683 times.
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