I just sent the following questions to my congressman and to my two senators:
I have two questions:
1) Will you vote to require members of Congress to be included as participants on any bill dealing with health care? Please give me a yes or no answer.
2) Do you have a policy of reading any proposed bill before voting in favor of it? If so, will you vote against or abstain from voting on any bill that you are unable to read before a vote is taken?
Thank you for your time and for your service,
If you are interested in answers from members of Congress to either or both questions, I would suggest that you email your members of Congress or call them and ask the same two questions. I do not think it at all unreasonable to ask that members of Congress read the bills that they are voting to enact. And if the Congressional leadership does not give the members sufficient time to read the bills, they should vote “NO!”
I also believe that if the current health care bill is so great for the poor and the uninsured, Congressmen and their families should be happy to sign on to receive the same health care and have the same access to health care that their constituents will get.
Your first question: 1) Will you vote to require members of Congress to be included as participants on any bill dealing with health care?
What are the facts, names, committee dates, etc. where the vote occurred to exempt Congress?
Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV) offered an amendment in the Ways & Means Committee that would have required Members of Congress to enroll immediately in the government-run health plan that would be established under the Democratic bill. The Heller amendment was killed in the Ways & Means Committee at the behest of Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Rangel.
Very reasonable questions…