Read the Bills Act would fundamentally reshape how legislation is prepared, presented, and approved in Congress. The bill requires each bill or resolution to include a constitutionally grounded authority statement showing the specific constitutional powers used to enact it, and, when a bill would affect current law, requires the bill to present the current law verbatim, the proposed amendments, and the revised text. Before final passage, the bill would mandate public posting of the full text at least seven days prior, notice of the voting calendar at least six days in advance, and a guaranteed verbatim reading of the bill in the chamber. Members would also sign affidavits attesting they listened to or read the full text before voting. If a measure does not comply with these requirements, it would have no force or effect, and a private right of action could be brought in court to challenge enforcement or passage. The act would also create a framework for enforcement, provide a severability clause, and make related technical amendments to the U.S. Code. In short, the bill aims to increase transparency, ensure that laws are enacted only under constitutional authority, require lawmakers to publicly disclose and personally attest to having read the legislation, and empower challenges to noncompliant laws in court.
Key Points
- 1Constitutional authority statement requirement (Sec. 105a)
- 2- Every introduced bill or resolution must cite the specific constitutional powers Congress is relying on to enact it.
- 3- If a bill lacks this citation, it cannot be accepted by the House Clerk or Senate Secretary for consideration.
- 4Current law text and amendments visibility (Sec. 105b)
- 5- For any bill or resolution that would amend or modify current law, the bill must present: (A) the current version of the entire section verbatim, (B) the proposed amendments, and (C) the resulting text after the amendments (except when the bill would strike an entire section).
- 6- Noncompliance bars acceptance by clerks.
- 7Procedures prior to a vote (Sec. 105c)
- 8- Final passage votes may not occur unless:
- 9- The full text is published on official, publicly accessible websites at least 7 days before the vote, in an open, machine-readable format.
- 10- Public notice of the specific calendar week for the vote is posted at least 6 days prior.
- 11- The Clerk or Secretary has read the full text aloud to each chamber, unless already enrolled (with specific provisions for enrolled bills).
- 12- If a bill is enrolled, full text need not be reread in the passing chamber, but any amendments to the enrolled text must be read verbatim.
- 13Affidavits and record-keeping (Sec. 105c)
- 14- Before final passage, each Senator or Representative must sign an affidavit (under penalty of perjury) stating they either listened to the full reading or read the bill in its entirety; those who voted against passage are not required to sign.
- 15- Copies of these affidavits must be kept by the respective legislative clerks, and the journal must reflect that the reading, notice, and affidavit requirements were satisfied.
- 16Enforcement and remedies (Sec. 105d)
- 17- An Act that does not comply with Sections 105a–105c would have no force or effect.
- 18- A private right of action could be brought under 28 U.S.C. sections 2201-2202 to seek relief or injunction against enforcement of noncompliant laws, including actions by agencies, Members of Congress, or individuals affected by noncompliance.
- 19No waivers; severability; and technical alignment (Secs. 4–6)
- 20- No waiver or modification of these requirements by rules, concurrent resolutions, unanimous consent, or other means.
- 21- The bill also adds new sections to Title 1 (the U.S. Code) and includes a severability clause, ensuring the rest of the act remains valid if any provision is struck down.
- 22- Technical amendments would insert new sections into the standard table of sections for proper cross-referencing.