Rand Paul doubles down on bill to make Congress more transparent

Sen. Rand Paul is doubling down on passing legislation he says would increase congressional transparency. 

The Kentucky Republican, who is running for president, has reintroduced proposals that would limit the subject of any bill to one topic, as well as a separate measure that aims to ensure lawmakers have read a proposal before it’s voted on. 

{mosads}Paul suggested his legislation would give Americans more input into the legislative process and prevent Congress from passing legislation “without hearings, amendments, or debate.” 

“I firmly believe the American people have a right to be part of the legislative process,” Paul said in a statement. “My bills will allow citizens sufficient time to read and give input to members of Congress as they consider legislation impacting the lives of all Americans.”

Paul’s One Subject at a Time Act would require legislation to “embrace no more than one subject,” according to the language. It would also block spending bills from containing measures that aren’t relevant to departments or agencies being funded by the bill. 

Another of his proposals, the Read the Bills Act, would require that the text of a bill must be posted online for at least seven days before the House or Senate can take a final vote. It would also require legislation to be read out loud and for lawmakers to sign an affidavit that they either “listened attentively” to or “read attentively” the entire bill.  

According to Paul’s proposal, senators frequently don’t have copies of a bill before it’s passed, and, as a consequence, Congress has cleared “excessively long bills, largely written by an unelected bureaucracy, resulting in generally incomprehensible, cumbersome, oppressive, and burdensome laws, containing hidden provisions or special interests.” 

Paul added that the bills were part of his “pledge to increase transparency and accessibility” in the Senate.