II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3879 

To preserve the constitutional authority of Congress and ensure accountability 

and transparency in legislation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 3, 2020 

Mr. PAUL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Rules and Administration 

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. CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—This Act is enacted pursuant to 

7 the power conferred by the Constitution of the United 

8 States upon each House of Congress by— 


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1 (1) article I, section 5, clauses 2 and 3 to deter2 mine the rules and keep a journal of its proceedings, 

3 respectively; 

4 (2) article I, section 7, clause 2 to ensure that 

5 bills that become law have been actually passed by, 

6 not just passed through, each House of Congress; 

7 and 

8 (3) article I, section 8, clause 18, which author9 izes Congress to make all laws that are necessary 

10 and proper for carrying into execution the rules of 

11 each House of Congress. 

12 (b) STANDING PROVISION.—The provision of this Act 

13 under which any person who is aggrieved by the enforce14 ment of any law enacted either in violation of the rules 

15 of proceedings of either House of Congress, or by the sus16 pension of the rules, as prescribed herein, shall have 

17 standing in a court of law, is enacted pursuant to article 

18 III, section 2 of the Constitution of the United States. 

19 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

20 Congress finds the following: 

21 (1) The Constitution of the United States vests 

22 all legislative powers granted therein in Congress. 

23 (2) Each Member of Congress is elected by the 

24 people to whom the Member is accountable, and 

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1 tive State or District in exercising their legislative 

2 powers. 

3 (3) Establishing a Government of enumerated 

4 powers, article I, section 1 of the Constitution of the 

5 United States obliges Congress to exercise only those 

6 legislative powers provided for in the Constitution of 

7 the United States, and article VI of the Constitution 

8 of the United States requires that each Member of 

9 Congress be bound by oath or affirmation to support 

10 the Constitution of the United States by enacting 

11 only those laws, and making only those resolutions, 

12 that are pursuant to the Constitution of the United 

13 States and not prohibited thereby. 

14 (4) To ensure that Congress is politically and 

15 legally accountable to the people, article I, section 5 

16 of the Constitution of the United States requires 

17 each House of Congress to keep a journal of its pro18 ceedings and from time to time publish the same. 

19 (5) To ensure that no legislation is passed with20 out effective representation of the interests of the 

21 people by the elected Members of Congress, article 

22 I, section 7 of the Constitution of the United States 

23 provides that only a bill ‘‘which shall have passed 

24 the House of Representatives and the Senate,’’ and 

25 not vetoed by the President, shall ‘‘become a law’’. 


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1 (6) According to section I of the Manual of 

2 Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the Senate of 

3 the United States, written by Thomas Jefferson in 

4 1801 (referred to in this section as ‘‘Jefferson’s 

5 Manual’’), ‘‘nothing tended more to throw power 

6 into the hands of administration and those who 

7 acted with the majority . . . than a neglect of, or 

8 departure from, the rules of proceeding [which] op9 erated as a check and control of the actions of the 

10 majority [and] a shelter and protection to the minor11 ity’’. 

12 (7) According to sections XXII and XL of Jef13 ferson’s Manual, it was the rule of the Senate that 

14 every bill receive 3 readings, 2 full readings by the 

15 Clerk of the Senate, and a third reading of the title 

16 of the bill only, because ‘‘every member of the Sen17 ate had a printed copy [of the bill] in his hand.’’. 

18 (8) According to sections XXIV, XXV, and XL 

19 of Jefferson’s Manual, it was the rule of the House 

20 of Representatives, following the parliamentary pro21 cedure of the English House of Commons, that every 

22 bill receive 2 full readings by the Clerk of the House 

23 of Representatives, and a reading of the whole con24 tents of the bill verbatim by the Speaker of the 


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1 House of Representatives before the House of Rep2 resentatives voted on the bill. 

3 (9) Under the current rules of the Senate, the 

4 Senate has departed from its original practice of a 

5 full first and second reading of each bill, and of en6 suring that each Senator has a printed or other ver7 batim copy of each bill before passage thereof, hav8 ing by rule XIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate 

9 limited each reading of a bill to the reading of the 

10 title of the bill only, unless the Senate in any case 

11 shall otherwise order. 

12 (10) Under the current rules of the House of 

13 Representatives, the House of Representatives has 

14 by rule XVI (8) and rule XVIII (5) embraced its 

15 original practice of full first and second readings of 

16 each bill, but has regularly departed from this prac17 tice by unanimous consent of the House of Rep18 resentatives, and has dispensed altogether its origi19 nal practice of a verbatim third reading of each bill 

20 before passage, limiting such third reading to the 

21 reading of the title only, including the reading of the 

22 title only even when Members of the House of Rep23 resentatives have no printed or other verbatim copy 

24 of the bill before passage. 


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1 (11) Although section 106 of title 1, United 

2 States Code, requires a bill to be made available in 

3 written form to each Member of Congress before 

4 final passage, Congress has by statute conferred 

5 upon itself the power, during the last 6 days of a 

6 session of Congress, by concurrent resolution, to 

7 vote for passage of a bill that is not in written form 

8 at the time of final passage. 

9 (12) As a direct consequence of the departure 

10 of the Senate and the House of Representatives 

11 from the salutary practice of full, verbatim readings 

12 of each bill before final passage, and further, as a 

13 direct consequence of Congress, by concurrent reso14 lution and otherwise, having permitted certain ap15 propriation, budget, and regulatory bills to be en16 acted into law without such bills being printed and 

17 presented to Congress in written form prior to final 

18 passage, Congress has— 

19 (A) imposed upon the people of the United 

20 States excessively long bills, largely written by 

21 an unelected bureaucracy, resulting in generally 

22 incomprehensible, cumbersome, oppressive, and 

23 burdensome laws, containing hidden provisions 

24 for special interests; 


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1 (B) deprived the people of the United 

2 States and their elected Senators and Members 

3 of a full and fair opportunity to examine the 

4 text of bills, and all amendments thereto, prior 

5 to passage; 

6 (C) undermined the confidence of the peo7 ple of the United States as a result of its fail8 ure to provide adequate notice to the people be9 fore a vote is taken on the bills and amend10 ments thereto; and 

11 (D) has called into question the integrity 

12 and reliability of the legislative processes in 

13 both Houses of Congress by its failure to en14 sure that each Senator and each Member of the 

15 House of Representatives has, prior to passage, 

16 either listened attentively to the reading of the 

17 full text of each bill, and amendments thereto, 

18 or has personally read the text thereof. 

19 (13) Federal law currently sets forth various re20 quirements relating to the form of bills and resolu21 tions, and the procedure for enacting laws, includ22 ing— 

23 (A) the form of the enacting clause of all 

24 Acts of Congress (section 101 of title 1, United 

25 States Code); 


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1 (B) the form of the resolving clause of all 

2 joint resolutions (section 102 of title 1, United 

3 States Code); 

4 (C) a limitation on the use of enacting or 

5 resolving words (section 103 of title 1, United 

6 States Code); 

7 (D) the requirement regarding the num8 bering of sections and the requirement that 

9 each contain a single proposition (section 104 

10 of title 1, United States Code); 

11 (E) the style and title for all bills making 

12 appropriations (section 105 of title 1, United 

13 States Code); and 

14 (F) the process by which each bill or joint 

15 resolution is handled after passage (section 106 

16 of title 1, United States Code). 

17 SEC. 4. TEXT OF BILL OR RESOLUTION TO SPECIFY ITS 

18 CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY, CURRENT 

19 LAW. 

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

21 by inserting after section 105 the following: 

22 ‘‘§ 105a. Text of bill or resolution to specify its con23 stitutional authority 

24 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any bill or resolution intro2 duced in either House of Congress shall contain a 

3 provision citing the specific powers granted to Con4 gress in the Constitution of the United States to 

5 enact the proposed bill or resolution, including all 

6 the provisions thereof. 

7 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Any bill or resolu8 tion that does not comply with paragraph (1) shall 

9 not be accepted by the Clerk of the House of Rep10 resentatives or the Secretary of the Senate. 

11 ‘‘(b) FLOOR CONSIDERATION.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The requirements of sub13 section (a)(1) shall apply to any bill or resolution 

14 presented for consideration on the floor of either 

15 House of Congress, including a bill or resolution re16 ported from a committee of either House of Con17 gress, produced by conference between the 2 Houses 

18 of Congress, or offered as a manager’s amendment. 

19 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Any bill or resolu20 tion that does not comply with paragraph (1) shall 

21 not be submitted for a vote on final passage. 

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

23 of Congress, nor Congress jointly, by concurrent resolu24 tion, unanimous consent, or any other order, resolution, 


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1 vote, or other means, may dispense with, or otherwise 

2 waive or modify, the requirements under this section. 

3 ‘‘§ 105b. Text of bill or resolution to set forth current 

4 law 

5 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any bill or resolution intro7 duced in either House of Congress that is intended 

8 to amend or modify the effect of, or would have the 

9 effect of amending or modifying the effect of, any 

10 current provision of law, including the expiration 

11 date of any law, shall set forth— 

12 ‘‘(A) the current version of the entire sec13 tion of the current law that the bill or resolu14 tion proposes to amend, verbatim; 

15 ‘‘(B) the amendments proposed in the bill 

16 or resolution; and 

17 ‘‘(C) the section of law as it would read as 

18 modified by the amendments proposed, except 

19 that this subparagraph shall not apply to any 

20 bill or resolution that would strike the text of 

21 an entire section of a law. 

22 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Any bill or resolu23 tion that does not comply with paragraph (1) shall 

24 not be accepted by the Clerk of the House of Rep25 resentatives or the Secretary of the Senate. 


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1 ‘‘(b) FLOOR CONSIDERATION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The requirements under 

3 subsection (a)(1) shall apply to any bill or resolution 

4 presented for consideration on the floor of either 

5 House of Congress, including a bill or resolution re6 ported from a committee of either House of Con7 gress, produced by conference between the 2 Houses 

8 of Congress, or offered as a manager’s amendment. 

9 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Any bill or resolu10 tion that does not comply with paragraph (1) shall 

11 not be submitted to a vote on final passage. 

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

13 of Congress, nor Congress jointly, by concurrent resolu14 tion, unanimous consent, or any other order, resolution, 

15 vote, or other means, may dispense with, or otherwise 

16 waive or modify, the requirements under this section. 

17 ‘‘§ 105c. Procedures prior to vote on bill or resolution 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

19 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS FOR VOTE.—A vote on 

20 final passage of a bill (except for private bills) or a 

21 resolution may not occur in either House of Con22 gress, unless— 

23 ‘‘(A) the full text of the bill or resolution 

24 is published at least 7 days before the vote on 

25 an official Internet website of each House of 


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1 Congress, easily available to and readily usable 

2 by the public, using an open format that is 

3 platform independent, machine readable, and 

4 available without restrictions on searchability, 

5 retrieval, downloading, and indexing, separate 

6 and apart from the calendar of the Senate or 

7 the House of Representatives; 

8 ‘‘(B) public notice of the specific calendar 

9 week during which the vote is scheduled to take 

10 place is posted on the official Internet websites 

11 described in subparagraph (A) not less than 6 

12 days before the Monday of the calendar week 

13 during which the vote is scheduled to take 

14 place, with failure to take the vote during the 

15 noticed week requiring a new notice under this 

16 subparagraph; and 

17 ‘‘(C) except as provided in paragraph (2), 

18 the Clerk of the House of Representatives or 

19 the Secretary of the Senate has read the full 

20 text of the bill or resolution, verbatim, to the 

21 respective body of each House of Congress, 

22 which have been called to order and physically 

23 assembled with a constitutionally required 

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1 out the time of the full reading of the text of 

2 the bill or resolution. 

3 ‘‘(2) If a bill or resolution is enrolled by either 

4 the House of Representatives or the Senate, for any 

5 subsequent consideration of the enrolled bill or reso6 lution— 

7 ‘‘(A) it is not necessary for the full text of 

8 the bill or resolution to be reread to the House 

9 of Congress in which the bill or resolution 

10 passed; and 

11 ‘‘(B) the full text of any amendment to the 

12 text of the enrolled bill or resolution shall be 

13 read, verbatim, to each House of Congress. 

14 ‘‘(b) AFFIDAVIT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before voting in favor of 

16 final passage of a bill (except a private bill) or reso17 lution, each Senator and each Member of the House 

18 of Representatives, except as provided in paragraph 

19 (2), shall sign an affidavit executed under penalty of 

20 perjury under section 1621 of title 18 attesting that 

21 the Senator or Member— 

22 ‘‘(A) was present throughout the entire 

23 reading of each such bill or resolution, and lis24 tened attentively to such reading in its entirety; 

25 or 


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1 ‘‘(B) prior to voting for passage of such 

2 bill or resolution, read attentively each such bill 

3 or resolution in its entirety. 

4 ‘‘(2) VOTE AGAINST PASSAGE.—A Senator or a 

5 Member of the House of Representatives shall not be 

6 required to sign an affidavit described in paragraph 

7 (1) if the Senator or Member voted against passage 

8 of the bill or resolution. 

9 ‘‘(3) RECORDS.—Copies of each affidavit de10 scribed in paragraph (1) signed by a Senator or a 

11 Member of the House of Representatives shall be 

12 maintained by the Secretary of the Senate or the 

13 Clerk of the House of Representatives, respectively. 

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

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

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

17 journal of its proceedings that the publishing, notice, read18 ing, and affidavit requirements under this section have 

19 been satisfied. 

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

21 of Congress, nor Congress jointly, by concurrent resolu22 tion, unanimous consent, or any other order, resolution, 

23 vote, or other means, may dispense with, or otherwise 

24 waive or modify, the requirements set forth in this section. 


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1 ‘‘§ 105d. Enforcement clause 

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

3 not comply with section 105a, 105b, or 105c shall have 

4 no force or effect and no legal, equitable, regulatory, civil, 

5 or criminal action may be brought under such an Act of 

6 Congress. 

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

8 amount in controversy, a cause of action under sections 

9 2201 and 2202 of title 28, United States Code, against 

10 the United States seeking appropriate relief (including an 

11 injunction against enforcement of any law, the passage of 

12 which did not conform to the requirements of section 

13 105a, 105b, or 105c) may be brought by— 

14 ‘‘(1) a person aggrieved by an action of an offi15 cer or employee in the executive branch of the Fed16 eral Government under an Act of Congress that did 

17 not comply with sections 105a, 105b, and 105c; 

18 ‘‘(2) a Member of Congress aggrieved by the 

19 failure of the House of Congress of which the Mem20 ber is a Member to comply with section 105a, 105b, 

21 or 105c; and 

22 ‘‘(3) a person individually aggrieved by the fail23 ure of a Senator for the State in which the ag24 grieved person resides or by the failure of a Member 

25 of the House of Representatives for the District in 

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1 gations of the Senator or Member under section 

2 105a, 105b, or 105c.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

4 The table of sections for chapter 2 of title 1, United 

5 States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relat6 ing to section 105 the following: 

‘‘105a. Text of bill or resolution to specify its constitutional authority. 

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

‘‘105c. Procedures prior to vote on bill or resolution. 

‘‘105d. Enforcement clause.’’. 

7 SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY CLAUSE. 

8 If any provision of this Act or an amendment made 

9 by this Act, or the application of a provision or amend10 ment to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid 

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

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

13 and the application of the provisions and amendment to 

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

Æ 


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