Sen. Cornyn Backs Legislation That Would Change Senate Rules To Require 72-Hour Waiting Period

Statement

"This hide-and-vote game must come to a stop--especially under the leadership of a President who promised transparency would be a ‘touchstone' of his Administration."

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, today cosponsored a bill, offered by Sen. Jim Bunning, calling for an official change to Senate Rules to enact a 72-hour waiting period and a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score before considering any legislation in the U.S. Senate and any of its committees.

"The current debate on health care reform demonstrates the critical need for this added measure of transparency in the U.S. Senate. The negotiations to produce the current health care reform proposals have been rife with backroom deals and shrouded in secrecy. One of my Democrat colleagues said, ‘Let's be honest about it, most people don't read the legislative language.' Another called the legislative language ‘gibberish,' and admitted he didn't plan on reading it before he voted on it. Perhaps this is why they don't want the American people reading it either. Democrat members of the Senate Finance Committee defeated similar legislation I cosponsored in the Finance Committee that would have required the health care reform bill to be posted online for 72 hours before it was brought up for a vote.

"This hide-and-vote game must come to a stop-especially under the leadership of a President who promised transparency would be a ‘touchstone' of his Administration. I urge the Senate Majority Leader to bring this bill to the floor for a vote as quickly as possible to put an end to the practice of rushing legislation through Congress and past the American public."

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