Washington, D.C., Nov 2 - Legislative transparency is a necessity, especially with huge bills moving quickly through Congress, said U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-MI, Ranking Member of the Committee on Ways and Means. Camp supports initiatives that would ensure transparency in the legislative process by making bills and amendments available online for at least 72 hours before a vote, making text of bills considered available no later than 24 hours after a committee amends a bill, and requiring that committee votes are made public electronically within 48 hours after votes.

“Members of Congress and the public need time to read and digest these vast bills that are going to affect large parts of our economy, our government, and our lives,” Camp said.

The most notable example of a bill secretly being rushed through the legislative process this year came when a 300-page amendment was added to the Cap and Tax bill at 3 a.m. the night before the vote passing the bill. More than 300 pages of law, a huge chunk of our economy – and who knows what was in it?

And now Democrats, after three months of secret deliberations, have added 1,000 more pages to the 1,000 page health care bill. They hope to vote on it late next week.

“Who know what else they will add before the bill goes to the floor, and how long the American people will have to read that, to know how their health insurance, their health care, and their taxes will change,” Camp said. “Health care is one-sixth of our economy – we’re talking about overhauling one-sixth of our economy and no one knows how it will be affected? That is dangerous precedent and unfair to the American people.”

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