Dear Mr. King,
Republican leaders have broken their promise to restore Regular Order – the process by which every bill and amendment is heard and given an up or down vote in Congress. And they’ve done it in record setting fashion. When the GOP–dominated Rules Committee sent their 84th bill to the floor of the House under a “closed” rule last month – meaning no amendments or changes allowed – they officially established the 115th Congress as the most undemocratic, authoritarian Congress in our Nation’s history.
Every new Member of Congress, Democrat and Republican, comes to Washington with good ideas and a desire to make government work better for people. Closed rules smother good ideas, cut off debate, prevent us from finding areas of agreement, and substitute political posturing for problem solving.
In other words, process matters. When Regular Order breaks down and amendments that would likely pass with solid bipartisan support can’t even be considered,important bills fail and gridlock worsens. Moreover, bills that do pass – affecting critical matters like Veterans benefits, drinking water, child nutrition, the environment, and national security, just to name a few – aren’t nearly as good as they could be.
According to the Library of Congress, since the GOP took over the House in 2011, just five percent of all the bills and resolutions that came to the floor were considered under an open rule – where any Member can offer an amendment. The other 95 percent of bills presented on the floor were considered under closed rules with no amendments, or restricted to a few amendments preordained by the powerful Rules Committee.
It wasn’t always that way. During the first term of my earlier service in Congress – from 1975 to 1977 – 91 percent of all the bills presented on the floor of the House were considered under open rules, with just nine percent restricted to so-called "structured," or closed rules.
That Congress, and many that followed, were far more productive and bipartisan in nature. In those days, we averaged some 8,000 hearings and meetings a year where we dug for facts and hashed out bipartisan agreements. Today, less than half that number of hearings and meetings are held, and most of them are pro-forma without much substance.
Congress will never regain the confidence of the American people until the process is opened up and Regular Order and democracy are restored. That’s the plain and simple fact.
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| MOC Rick Nolan |
In other words, process matters. When Regular Order breaks down and amendments that would likely pass with solid bipartisan support can’t even be considered,important bills fail and gridlock worsens. Moreover, bills that do pass – affecting critical matters like Veterans benefits, drinking water, child nutrition, the environment, and national security, just to name a few – aren’t nearly as good as they could be.
According to the Library of Congress, since the GOP took over the House in 2011, just five percent of all the bills and resolutions that came to the floor were considered under an open rule – where any Member can offer an amendment. The other 95 percent of bills presented on the floor were considered under closed rules with no amendments, or restricted to a few amendments preordained by the powerful Rules Committee.
It wasn’t always that way. During the first term of my earlier service in Congress – from 1975 to 1977 – 91 percent of all the bills presented on the floor of the House were considered under open rules, with just nine percent restricted to so-called "structured," or closed rules.
That Congress, and many that followed, were far more productive and bipartisan in nature. In those days, we averaged some 8,000 hearings and meetings a year where we dug for facts and hashed out bipartisan agreements. Today, less than half that number of hearings and meetings are held, and most of them are pro-forma without much substance.
Congress will never regain the confidence of the American people until the process is opened up and Regular Order and democracy are restored. That’s the plain and simple fact.
Sincerely,
Congressman Rick Nolan
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