109th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2179
To require openness in conference committee deliberations and full
disclosure of the contents of conference reports and all other legislation.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 18, 2006
Mr. OBAMA introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Rules and Administration
A BILL
To require openness in conference committee deliberations and full
disclosure of the contents of conference reports and all other legislation.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Curtailing Lobbyist Effectiveness Through
Advance Notification, Updates, and Posting Act' or the `CLEAN UP Act'.
SEC. 2. CONFERENCE COMMITTEE DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Clear Identification of New Material in Conference Reports- Rule XXVIII
of the Rules of the Senate is amended by adding at the end the following:
`7. The joint explanatory statement by a committee of conference shall separately
identify and explain each provision of the report in violation of paragraph
2 or 3 of rule XXVIII of the Standing Rules of the Senate and, if possible,
identify the Member who proposed such provision.'.
(b) Sense of Congress on Conference Committee Protocols- It is the sense
of Congress that--
(1) conference committees should hold regular, formal meetings of all
conferees that are open to the public or televised;
(2) all conferees should be given adequate notice of the time and place
of all such meetings; and
(3) all conferees should be afforded an opportunity to participate in
full and complete debates of the matters that such conference committees
may recommend to their respective Houses.
SEC. 3. ACTUAL VOTING REQUIRED IN CONFERENCE COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND OPPORTUNITY
FOR MINORITY VIEWS.
Rule XXVIII of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by adding at
the end the following:
`8. It shall not be in order to consider a conference report unless the
senior manager from the majority party on the part of the Senate as so designated
for that purpose by the majority leader and the senior manager from the
minority party on the part of the Senate as so designated for that purpose
by the minority leader include in the statement of managers accompanying
such conference report a signed statement that--
`(1) all Senate managers have been afforded an opportunity at a meeting
of the committee on conference to vote on all amendments and other propositions
considered by that committee;
`(2) roll call votes have been held in public meetings of the conferees
on the matter contained in any motion to instruct conferees passed by
the Senate; and
`(3) the minority was offered an opportunity to submit dissenting or minority
views for the joint statement of managers.'.
SEC. 4. AVAILABILITY OF LEGISLATION ON THE INTERNET.
Rule XIV of all the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by adding at
the end the following:
`11.(a) The reading in full of any bill, resolution, conference report,
or amendment shall not be dispensed with unless such measure is available
to all Members and made available to the general public by means of the
Internet for at least 72 hours before its consideration.
`(b) This paragraph may only be waived by 2/3 of Members, duly chosen and
sworn.'.
SEC. 5. EARMARKS.
Rule XVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate is amended by adding at the
end the following:
`8.(a) In this paragraph, the term `earmark' means a provision that requires
or permits the obligation or expenditure of any amount appropriated for
the benefit of an identifiable person, program, project, entity, or jurisdiction
by earmarking or other specification, whether by name or description, in
a manner that--
`(1) discriminates against other persons, programs, projects, entities,
or jurisdictions similarly situated that would be eligible, but for the
requirement or permission, for the amount appropriated; or
`(2) applies only to a single identifiable person, program, project, entity,
or jurisdiction, unless the identifiable person, program, project, entity,
or jurisdiction is described or otherwise clearly identified in a law
or Treaty stipulation (or an Act or resolution previously passed by the
Senate during the same session or in the estimate submitted in accordance
with law).
`(b) No appropriation bill shall be considered unless a list of all earmarks
in such bill and accompanying reports are available to all Members and made
available to the general public by means of the Internet for at least 72
hours before its consideration.
`(c) This paragraph may only be waived by 2/3 of Members, duly chosen and
sworn.'.
END
