[NonValueAdded]

Demand that your Senators resurrect the 107^th Congress' S. Res. 244 and / or cosponsor the legislation. get them on record and bring some sunshine into the Senate.

[capt. norm]

I don't think they should be able to hide, from the voters, what they're up to.

We are their employers and we have the right to know what they are doing.

How long would a person stay employed if he insisted on keeping what he does at work, a secret from his boss?

[philman_36]

Here's a trick...

ELIMINATING SECRET HOLDS
A lot of Senators give lengthy and eloquent speeches about fighting terrorism, but now a bill that is vital to national security is being held up in secret. It has been held up for months and months as a result of this secret hold. That ought to change.
Certainly, it ought to change if Senators are serious about lobbying reforms because one of the best ways for lobbyists to work their will is to have procedures that help them behind closed doors. That is what the secret hold is all about.
It is written nowhere in the Senate rules, but it has become one of the most significant and powerful tools a Senator can exercise. It is done without any public accountability at all.

[philman_36]

Some history...
Testimony of Walter J. Stewart
Secretary of the Senate Emeritus
Lyndon Johnson's innovation to the well-established practice of allowing members to request holds was to insist that the name of the person placing the hold be kept secret. This allowed him to negotiate directly with that senator without what he saw as the further complications of publicity. If Johnson could satisfy the author of the hold through a private conversation, he saw no reason to have to explain his inside dealings to the press and public.

[philman_36]

I didn't mean to kill your thread.