[IP] [Politics] Politicos approve bill they haven't read; goodbye, taxpayer privacy? [priv]
Begin forwarded message:
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@xxxxxxxx>
Date: November 29, 2004 2:23:26 AM EST
To: politech@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Politech] Politicos approve bill they haven't read; goodbye,
taxpayer privacy? [priv]
I criticized Nancy Pelosi a few weeks ago, but she's entirely in the
right on this. Good for her.
See this editorial from Friday's Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13533-2004Nov25.html
"Sadly, this year's bill, passed by Congress last week, was no better,
and on some counts it was worse. Not only was the $388 billion bill
once again late and once again stuffed with pet projects, but this time
it also contained what appears to be an egregious assault on taxpayer
privacy: a provision slipped into the bill by staff that nobody much
noticed until the votes had already been taken. The congressman in
whose name the provision was requested, Rep. Ernest J. Istook Jr.
(R-Okla.), swears he knew nothing about it. Because of the uproar from
Democrats as well as their own party, House Republican leaders have
agreed to summon their colleagues back next month to repeal the
provision, thereby further delaying the whole process."
-Declan
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Pelosi -- 'Assault on Taxpayer Privacy Was Not a Simple
Mistake; Democrats Will Not Let Republicans Sweep It Under the Rug'
Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2004 13:56:36 -0500
From: Democratic Leader <Democratic.Leader@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
News From House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
H-204, The Capitol, Washington D.C. 20515
http://democraticleader.house.gov
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Contact: Brendan Daly, 202-226-7616
Pelosi: 'Assault on Taxpayer Privacy Was Not a Simple Mistake;
Democrats Will Not Let Republicans Sweep It Under the Rug'
Washington, D.C. - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the
following statement on the Republican assault on taxpayer privacy and
the need for the Republican leadership to give Members time to read the
bills on which they are asked to vote:
"This extraordinary invasion of privacy did not have the majority
support of either chamber. It was a 'Saturday night massacre' on
Americans' privacy made possible only by the Republicans' willingness
to abuse the rules of the people's House.
"The Republican leadership forced through a so-called 'martial law'
rule that required a same-day vote, preventing Members of Congress from
having enough time to read legislation that spent hundreds of billions
of dollars and was thousands of pages long. This arrogance of power is
part of a pattern of abuse. In the 108th Congress alone, the
leadership proposed same-day votes nearly 30 times.
"The assault on taxpayer privacy was not a simple mistake, and
Democrats will not let Republicans sweep it under the rug. Therefore,
I have informed Speaker Hastert that while Democrats insist that the
taxpayer persecution provision be deleted, we will only agree to a
unanimous consent procedure tomorrow if Republicans also agree to limit
the use of martial law rules.
"To prevent future instances of hasty and dangerous decision-making,
the House of Representatives must obey current rules that require that
Members of Congress have a minimum of three days to read legislation
before voting on it.
"To ensure that government operations are unaffected, I have also
informed the Speaker that Democrats support passage of a continuing
resolution to fund government agencies through December 8, and an
agreement to vote on legislation to delete the taxpayer persecution
provision on December 6, after the rest of the spending bill can be
examined."
# # #
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