DeMint: We Will Stop Secret Legislation

A special message from Senator Jim DeMint:

This is the last week the Senate is in session before recessing for the November elections, and the Democrats are hoping to ram a mountain of legislation through the Senate with no debate and no votes. Yesterday, I announced that I will stop them. You can read more about this in the Politico report entitled, "Jim DeMint Vows Roadblock." The practice of passing secret bills by "unanimous consent" has grown out of control in recent years. Rather than scheduling time to debate and amend measures, Harry Reid waits until the last minute and then demands that a stack of bills be passed without debate. If anyone objects to his demands, he calls them an obstructionist and tries to publicly embarrass them into submission. You may remember earlier this year when he tried to do this to Senator Jim Bunning from Kentucky. Bunning wanted the next unemployment insurance extension to be paid for (not an unreasonable request) but Reid thought he could get his way if he staged a showdown that made it look like Bunning was blocking emergency release for unemployed workers. Now Reid is at it again. With just a few days left before the Senate adjourns, he's preparing to force a number of bills through at the last minute. But I'm not going to play along and I don't care if he or if anyone attacks me. In fact, my staff has notified every office in the Senate that if they don't disclose their last-minute bills by the close of business Tuesday, I will object to their passage.