Perry Announces Plan to Reform Congress

Press Release

Would make federal government more responsible, accountable

Jeff Perry's slogan for his congressional campaign is a vow to "Wake Up Washington." Today, he announced a specific plan to help accomplish the feat.

Perry's Plan to Reform Congress is a list of ten proposals Perry believes would make Congress more accountable to the American people and more fiscally responsible. In particular, his proposals would help to address excessive government spending that is adding to the $13 trillion national debt and procedural issues that would make Congress more responsive to public concerns.

The specific proposals on the list are:

1. Passage of a constitutional amendment for a balanced budget.
2. Approval of a constitutional amendment to give the President line item veto authority in the federal budget.
3. Creation of a rule to require a public hearing before any earmark is included in a federal spending bill. (Perry has previously vowed not to request any earmarks himself.)
4. Establishment of a term limit for members of Congress of five terms (ten years). (Perry has previously committed to voluntarily observe this term limit himself.)
5. Creation of a rule to require that all bills pending before Congress include a citation to the provision of the Constitution giving Congress the authority to consider passage of the bill.
6. Passage of a "Single Subject Rule" to require that the title of bills pending in Congress match the content of the bill.
7. Establishment of a requirement that all bills be posted for public review for a minimum of 72 hours before being voted on by Congress.
8. Creation of a rule to allow amendments to all bills pending before Congress.
9. Approval of a rule to require a roll call vote on all bills voted on by Congress.
10. Passage of a congressional rule prohibiting the addition of outside sections to appropriation bills if the outside section does not relate to spending.

"Altogether, I believe these proposals will dramatically improve the way Congress does business and the quality of its work," said Perry. "Congress needs to be more responsive and accountable to the desires of the American people. We also need more fiscal discipline and responsibility to make sure that our crippling national debt is brought back under control. My ten point plan for reform would achieve just that."

Perry also noted that his ten-point plan for reform is only part of his agenda to "Wake Up Washington," which is focused mainly on issues. "We need procedural and rules reform in Congress to improve the way things work in Washington. But the issues themselves matter, too. I am firmly committed to protecting Medicare and Social Security benefits for seniors, while taming the federal budget and working toward real reform of health care in our country. I am also interested in implementing a comprehensive plan to deal with illegal immigration and to passing reform of our tax laws to help small businesses create jobs."

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