Buchanan To Force House Vote On Sunshine Resolution
Announces He Will File Discharge Petition To Open Health Care Talks To Public
Washington, D.C. U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (FL-13), sponsor of the Sunshine Resolution requiring public access to negotiations on the health care bill, announced today that he will file a discharge petition Wednesday to force a House vote on his proposal.
In Florida we have one of the strongest right-to-know laws aimed at ensuring that government leaders conduct the peoples business in public, said Buchanan. No private meeting, no backroom deals, no secrecy. Its time to shine some Florida Sunshine on the Halls of Congress.
Back-room deals are being made to create a massive new entitlement program that seeks to overhaul a sixth of our countrys entire economy. Buchanans resolution demands that meetings to discuss the final details of the health care reform bill be conducted in the open under the watchful eye of the American people.
Health care reform is one of the largest public policy reforms taken up by Congress in generations, added Buchanan. If enacted, the final bill will impact the lives of all Americans. With so much at stake, any conference committee or meetings held to determine the content of sweeping national health care legislation should be held in full public view, not behind closed doors.
Buchanan will file the discharge petition tomorrow with House Minority Leader John Boehner to bring H. Res. 847 to the House floor for a vote.
Legislation as critical as the Democrats health care bill – with its Medicare cuts and tax hikes – shouldnt be slapped together in a backroom deal, said Boehner. Rep. Vern Buchanans resolution requiring the negotiations be public is the right thing to do.
Buchanans resolution was introduced in October of 2009 and is cosponsored by a bipartisan group of more than 150 lawmakers.
Once a majority of the House, 218 Members, has signed the discharge petition, it is placed on the House calendar over the objections of the House Speaker and Majority Leader. Sweeping campaign finance reform legislation was the last bill to be brought to the House floor through a discharge petition. The measure was then passed by the House and signed into law.
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