- Target:
- The United States Congress
- Region:
- United States of America
- Website:
- www.janineturner.com
THE TRUTH ACT by Janine Turner
Federalist Paper 62
"The internal effects of a mutable policy are still more calamitous. It poisons the blessing of liberty itself. It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is to-day, can guess what it will be to-morrow. Law is defined to be a rule of action; but how can that be a rule, which is little known, and less fixed?"
Alexander Hamilton/James Madison
THE TRUTH ACT makes the bills simple, not "voluminous," and easy to understand, not "incoherent," for both legislators and the American people. Thus, it will be beneficial to the people, and to the Republic, that "laws are made by men of their own choice."
Let your voice be heard that you support limiting the size and length of bills, and making bills coherent for the American people and members of Congress to read and understand.
T The bills (including amendments) put forth by legislators are limited to THIRTY pages.
R The bills (and consequent amendments) are READ by the legislators - and are available for the American people to read - at least thirty days before voting.
U The bills (and consequent amendments) are UNDERSTOOD by the legislators and written in such a way that the American people can understand the bills and amendments. (The amendments are underscored for easy detection.)
T Before voting on the bills, Congressman and Senators TESTIFY under oath that they have read and understood the bills and consequent amendments to the bill.
H The American people HEAR the proposed - and final - version of the bills read, in their entirety, on the floor, captured by CSPAN, and put online so that the people may HEAR the bill (and will also be able to read the bill) at least 30 days before voting on the bill occurs.
The indeterminably disastrous effects of such voluminous and incoherent bills such as the Affordable Care Act, the Patriot Act and the upcoming Immigration Bill are all examples of bills that were/are too voluminous and incoherent for both legislators and the American people.
We the undersigned, call on the United States Congress to implement commonsense reforms to fulfill its constitutional obligation to represent the people:
Representatives should proactively reduce and limit the length of the bills they consider and the laws they enact.
Each bill should be concise and focused on one issue for consideration, allowing members of Congress and the public to better appreciate and understand the full meaning and potential effects of the law.
Omnibus appropriations bills likewise should be dissolved and appropriations bills should once again present funding decisions on only the most inter-related programs and departments.
To help prevent last-minute spending from being added to appropriations, or eleventh-hour amendments changing bills with little or no debate, Congress should vote on bills only after all members have been given a reasonable amount of time to read, consider, and debate the legislation.
By rule, bills should be presented to members of Congress in final, unamendable form several days before votes may be taken.
Shorter, readable bills should be crafted with clear, transparent language that avoids legalese and are written for the people that they will govern, not the bureaucrats that will apply them.
The laws of a free society should not be “little known” or “less understood.” The people—from whom the legitimate power to govern is derived—should know and understand that laws that govern them and the process by which those laws are determined. The size and scope of too much of our federal legislation has made such knowledge all but impossible, and has thereby threatened the representative fabric of our constitutional framework and the liberties enjoyed by a free republic.
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The The Truth Act petition to The United States Congress was written by Janine Turner and is in the category Law Reform at GoPetition.