Roby selected for U.S. transition team
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Martha Roby, who was elected last week to Congress from the Second District of Alabama, has been tapped by House Leadership to serve on a panel that will establish the ground rules for the GOP-led House of Representatives.
The transition team has been charged with implementing the reforms found in the “Pledge to America,” and tasked with identifying additional ways to reform Congress so that it is more transparent, cost-effective, and accountable to the people.
The 22-member panel will work to ensure a seamless transition to a new Republican majority in the 112th Congress so that the House can get to work immediately in January to address the reforms called for by the American people in last week’s election.
Roby was in Washington Monday for a series of meetings to discuss new House and Republican Conference rules.
The “Pledge to America,” a set of policies and principles set forth by Republican leaders, called for a number of changes in the way the House of Representatives conducts its business.
These reforms include:
• A requirement that legislation be available online for three days before a vote so that members of Congress and the American people can read the bill.
• A requirement that all bills include a citation of constitutional authority so that Congress respects the limits imposed on it by our founding document.
• Changes to House rules to make it harder to increase spending—and easier to cut it—so that we begin a new era of fiscal responsibility in Washington.
• An end to the practice of passing “comprehensive” or “omnibus” bills that package unrelated legislation together in an effort to avoid public scrutiny.
Republican Leader Boehner has also pledged to end the days of bills being written in the Speaker’s Office behind closed doors, and instead vowed to move bill-writing authority back to committees, which would be required to post amendments and votes online to ensure full transparency.