Florida Congressman Vern Buchanan on Thursday called for the activities of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to be kept wide open to public scrutiny -- and said he intends to propose legislation to ensure all of that bicameral bodys meetings will stay in the sunshine.
The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction was set up as part of the deal to break up the stalemate in Washington over raising the federal debt ceiling. The new committee will consist of six members of each party, divided equally between senators and congressmen.
Under the agreement, leaders in Congress have until Aug. 16 to name members to the new committee. The 12 members will have more than three months to propose cuts to save $1.2 trillion over the next decade. The new committee will have until Nov. 23 to make these recommendations. Congressional leaders have agreed to schedule a straight up-or-down vote, without allowing amendments, on the recommended cuts in December.
With so much riding on the new committee, Republican Buchanan argued that the public needs to keep tabs on the process.
Too much is at stake to allow this 12-member committee to make critical decisions about the countrys future behind closed doors, said Buchanan. We need to make sure this new committee meets in public as they discuss how to cut $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years. The public and the press have a right to see this process unfold.
This is a pivotal point in our nations history, added Buchanan, who has been intensely critical of the closed process used to pass the federal health-care legislation. In the past, massive legislative measures have been written in the middle of the night by a handful of members and staff, and then quickly passed into law before the American people have a chance to even see what the final version looks like, let alone determine how they feel about it. This is not acceptable.
Buchanan said he will sponsor legislation in the House which would keep the committees hearings in the public eye. On Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-NV, said he will introduce a bill ensuring all of the committee meetings will be open to the public, or on television, with the exception of meetings involving classified material.
The American people have a right to know what their government is going to do with their tax dollars, said Heller. Not only do closed door-meetings by this committee prevent the public from knowing how their dollars are being spent, but these meetings also have the potential to promote deals with special interests. Open-door proceedings will allow the public to be their own advocates, rather than relying on games of inside baseball that too often dominate todays Washington.
Heller sent a letter to his colleague, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, and to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, calling for the meetings to be open. The letter was signed by five other Republican senators -- Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, John Boozman of Arkansas, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah and David Vitter of Louisiana.
Buchanan pointed to the state government in Tallahassee as a model for how the committee should conduct its proceedings.
The state of Florida leads the nation with one of the toughest right-to-know laws in the country, said Buchanan. Floridas strong sunshine law guards against back-room deals and secret negotiations by government officials. I urge congressional leaders to follow Floridas lead and let sun shine on the joint committee.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859
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