I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1831 

To preserve the constitutional authority of Congress and ensure accountability 

and transparency in legislation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 6, 2013 

Mr. BENTIVOLIO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To preserve the constitutional authority of Congress and 

ensure accountability and transparency in legislation. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Read the Bills Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. TEXT OF BILL OR RESOLUTION TO SPECIFY ITS 

6 CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY AND SHOW EF7 FECTS ON CURRENT LAW. 

8 Chapter 2 of title 1, United States Code, is amended 

9 by inserting after section 105 the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 105a. Text of bill or resolution to specify its con2 stitutional authority 

3 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any bill or resolution intro5 duced in either House of Congress shall contain a 

6 provision citing the specific powers granted to Con7 gress in the Constitution of the United States to 

8 enact the proposed bill or resolution, including all 

9 the provisions thereof. 

10 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Any bill or resolu11 tion not in compliance with subsection (a)(1) shall 

12 not be accepted by the Clerk of the House of Rep13 resentatives or the Secretary of the Senate. 

14 ‘‘(b) FLOOR CONSIDERATION.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of sub16 section (a)(1) shall apply to any bill or resolution 

17 presented for consideration on the floor of either 

18 House of Congress, including those bills or resolu19 tions reported from a committee of either House of 

20 Congress, those consisting of a conference report to 

21 accompany or bill or resolution, or those offered as 

22 a manager’s amendment. 

23 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Any bill or resolu24 tion not complying with subsection (A)(1) shall not 

25 be submitted for a vote on final passage. 


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1 ‘‘(c) NO WAIVER OR MODIFICATION.—Neither House 

2 of Congress, nor Congress jointly, by concurrent resolu3 tion, or by unanimous consent, or by any other order, reso4 lution, vote, or other means, may dispense with, or other5 wise waive or modify, the requirements set forth in this 

6 section. 

7 ‘‘§ 105b. Text of bill or resolution to set forth current 

8 law 

9 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any bill or resolution intro11 duced in either House of Congress which is designed 

12 to amend or modify the effect of, or which would 

13 have the effect of amending or modifying the effect 

14 of, any current provision of law, including the expi15 ration date of any law, shall set forth— 

16 ‘‘(A) the amendments being proposed by 

17 the bill; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the current section of law as it would 

19 read as modified by the amendments proposed, 

20 showing deleted text struck through and in21 serted text underlined. 

22 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Any bill or resolu23 tion not complying with this subsection shall not be 

24 accepted by the Clerk of the House of Representa25 tives or the Secretary of the Senate. 


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1 ‘‘(b) FLOOR CONSIDERATION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of sub3 section (a)(1) shall apply to all bills or resolutions 

4 presented for consideration on the floor of either 

5 House of Congress, including those reported from a 

6 committee of either House of Congress, those con7 sisting of a conference report to accompany a bill or 

8 resolution, or those offered as a manager’s amend9 ment. 

10 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Any bill or resolu11 tion not complying with this section shall not be sub12 mitted to a vote on final passage. 

13 ‘‘(c) NO WAIVER OR MODIFICATION.—Neither House 

14 of Congress, nor Congress jointly, by concurrent resolu15 tion, or by unanimous consent, or by any other order, reso16 lution, vote, or other means, may dispense with, or other17 wise waive or modify, the requirements set forth in this 

18 section. 

19 ‘‘§ 105c. Text of amendment to set forth current bill 

20 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any amendment to a bill or 

22 resolution introduced in either House of Congress 

23 shall set forth the current section of the bill or reso24 lution as it would read as modified by the amendVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:20 May 07, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1831.IH H1831

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1 ments proposed, showing deleted text struck through 

2 and inserted text underlined. 

3 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Any bill or resolu4 tion not complying with this subsection shall not be 

5 accepted by the Clerk of the House of Representa6 tives or the Secretary of the Senate. 

7 ‘‘(b) FLOOR CONSIDERATION.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of sub9 section (a)(1) shall apply to all bills or resolutions 

10 presented for consideration on the floor of either 

11 House of Congress, including those reported from a 

12 committee of either House of Congress, those con13 sisting of a conference report to accompany a bill or 

14 joint resolution, or those offered as a manager’s 

15 amendment. 

16 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Any bill or resolu17 tion not complying with this section shall not be sub18 mitted to a vote on final passage. 

19 ‘‘(c) NO WAIVER OR MODIFICATION.—Neither House 

20 of Congress, nor Congress jointly, by concurrent resolu21 tion, or by unanimous consent, or by any other order, reso22 lution, vote, or other means, may dispense with, or other23 wise waive or modify, the requirements set forth in this 

24 section. 


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1 ‘‘§ 105d. Procedures prior to vote on bill or resolution 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A vote on final passage of a bill 

3 (except for private bills) or a resolution of a public char4 acter may not occur in either House of Congress, unless— 

5 ‘‘(1) the full text of the bill or resolution, or 

6 original language and all adopted amendments to 

7 the same effect, is published at least 7 days before 

8 the vote on the official public Internet site of the Of9 fice of the Clerk of the House of Representatives (in 

10 the case of a bill or resolution in the House of Rep11 resentatives) or the Office of the Secretary of the 

12 Senate (in the case of a bill or resolution in the Sen13 ate), easily available to and readily usable by the 

14 public, using an open format that is platform inde15 pendent, machine readable, and available without re16 strictions respecting searching, retrieval, 

17 downloading, and indexing, separate and apart from 

18 the calendar of the Senate or the House of Rep19 resentatives; and 

20 ‘‘(2) public notice of the specific calendar week 

21 during which the vote is scheduled to take place is 

22 posted on the official Internet website described in 

23 paragraph (1) not less than 6 days before the Mon24 day of the calendar week during which the vote is 

25 scheduled to take place, with failure to take the vote 

26 during the noticed week requiring a new notice. 


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1 ‘‘(b) ROLL CALL.—No vote on final passage of a bill 

2 (except for private bills) or resolution may occur in either 

3 House of Congress unless taken by roll call. 

4 ‘‘(c) JOURNAL.—With respect to each vote on final 

5 passage of a bill (except for a private bill) or resolution, 

6 each House of Congress shall cause to be recorded in the 

7 journal of its proceedings that the applicable publishing, 

8 notice, and reading requirements under this section have 

9 been met. 

10 ‘‘(d) NO WAIVER OR MODIFICATION.—Neither House 

11 of Congress, nor Congress jointly, by concurrent resolu12 tion, or by unanimous consent, or by any other order, reso13 lution, vote, or other means, may dispense with, or other14 wise waive or modify, the requirements set forth in this 

15 section. 

16 ‘‘(e) EXCEPTION FOR DECLARATIONS OF WAR.— 

17 This section shall not apply with respect to any bill or 

18 resolution which constitutes a declaration of war. 

19 ‘‘§ 105e. Enforcement 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An Act of Congress that does 

21 not comply with sections 105a, 105b, 105c, or 105d shall 

22 have no force or effect and no legal, equitable, regulatory, 

23 civil, or criminal action may be brought under such an 

24 Act of Congress. 


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1 ‘‘(b) CAUSE OF ACTION.—Without regard to the 

2 amount in controversy, a cause of action under sections 

3 2201 and 2202 of title 28, United States Code, against 

4 the United States seeking appropriate relief (including an 

5 injunction against enforcement of any law the passage of 

6 which did not conform to the requirements of sections 

7 105a, 105b, 105c, or 105d) may be brought by— 

8 ‘‘(1) any person aggrieved by any action of any 

9 officer or employee of the Federal Government 

10 under any Act of Congress that does not comply 

11 with sections 105a, 105b, 105c, or 105d; and 

12 ‘‘(2) any Member of Congress aggrieved by the 

13 failure of the House of Congress of which the Mem14 ber is a Member to comply with sections 105a, 105b, 

15 105c, or 105d.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. SEVERABILITY. 

17 If any provision of this Act or an amendment made 

18 by this Act, or the application of a provision or amend19 ment to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid 

20 for any reason in any court of competent jurisdiction, the 

21 remainder of this Act and amendments made by this Act, 

22 and the application of the provisions and amendment to 

23 any other person or circumstance, shall not be affected. 


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1 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

3 apply with respect to bills and resolutions introduced or 

4 considered during the One Hundred Fourteenth Congress 

5 or any succeeding Congress. 

Æ 


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