Amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to ensure that Members have a reasonable amount of time to read legislation that will be voted upon.

Summary

Adds Rule XXIX (Time to Read Legislation Before Voting) to the Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit voting by the House on legislation between the chambers unless: (1) the text of the measure has been available to all Members and their staffs in both printed and electronic format for at least 10 days; and (2) any manager's amendment or other amendment which makes substantive changes to the legislation has been made available in such format for at least 72 hours before such vote. Exempts from such prohibition: (1) the intelligence authorization bill, appropriations, or other legislation containing classified information, or its conference report, if Members have at least seven days to study the measure's contents; and (2) congressional declarations of war or authorization of military force to respond to attacks on the United States. Allows any citizen who is eligible to vote and who is not an employee of the federal executive or judicial branch to petition the board of the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate allegations that a Member voted for any measure that violated this Rule. Amends Rule XIII (Calendars and Committee Reports) to prohibit the Committee on Rules from reporting a rule or order waiving Rule XXIX.

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Documents

3 official files

• Introduced in House (text)

  Introduced in House · EN · 5 March 2009

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• Introduced in House (PDF)

  Introduced in House · EN · 5 March 2009

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• Introduced in House

  summary · EN · 5 March 2009

  Open at official source

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