Read the Bills Act
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
Read the Bills Act
This bill requires any bill or resolution introduced in either chamber of Congress to contain a provision citing the specific powers granted to Congress in the Constitution to enact the proposed measure, including all of its provisions.
Any measure introduced in either chamber, intended to amend or modify the effect of, or which would have such an effect, any current provision of law, including its expiration date, must set forth: (1) the current version of the entire section of the current law that the measure proposes to amend, verbatim; (2) the amendments being proposed by the measure; and (3) the section of law as it would read as modified by such amendments. Measures that would strike the text of an entire section of a law are excluded.
Neither the Clerk of the House of Representatives nor the Secretary of the Senate may accept legislation noncompliant with these requirements.
These requirements shall be applied to any legislation presented for consideration on the floor of either chamber.
Noncompliant measures may not be submitted for a vote on final passage.
These requirements shall not be waived or modified by either chamber or Congress jointly.
A vote on final passage of a measure (except private bills) may not occur in either chamber unless:
the full text of the measure is published at least seven days before the vote on an official website of each chamber,
public notice of the specific calendar week during which the vote is scheduled to take place is posted on the respective website within six days before the Monday of such week, and
there is a reading of its full text verbatim by the Clerk or the Secretary to the respective chamber.
A Member of Congress, before voting in favor of final passage of any measure (except a private bill), must sign an affidavit, executed under penalty of perjury, that the Member either: (1) was present throughout the entire reading of each such measure, and listened attentively to the reading in its entirety; or (2) before such vote, read attentively each such measure in its entirety.
The summary continues for 6 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on June 15, 2015. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on June 15, 2015: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced it on June 15, 2015. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 15, 2015, 4105 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4105 days ago, on June 15, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers