MISSISSIPPI WEB SITE

2007

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STEVEN A. McCALEB
103 ALVERADO DRIVE
LONG BEACH, MISSISSIPPI 39560
PHONE & FAX: (228)-868-8428

 

ONCE IT IS KNOWN WHO PLACED THE, "SECRET HOLD" ON BILL S223, HE OR SHE SHOULD NOT GET RE-ELECTED TO THE SENATE.

 

 

Dear Sunlighters,

Some of you recently helped us push transparency legislation -- which would require electronic filing of Senate campaign finance reports -- out of committee where it had languished for the past seven years. Thanks to you, this legislation seemed like it was on a roll and would soon become law. But, it now faces another test.

Yesterday, the bill’s cosponsors, Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Russ Feingold (D-WI), tried to bring the bill up for a vote on the floor of the Senate but it was blocked because an unknown Senator placed a secret hold on it. What irony to have a transparency bill blocked by a secret hold!

Secret holds are so looked down on these days that earlier this year, the Senate itself banned the practice, although the bill containing that provision has yet to become law. But until secret holds are banished forever, we need your help in exposing the culprit who is blocking consideration of the electronic filing requirement for Senate campaign finance reports.   

Please join us by calling your Senator and ask them if they are the one with the secret hold. Tell them that S. 223 is critical information for a functioning democracy. Last year, a broad coalition of citizens and bloggers helped find the culprit of another secret hold. We can do it again!

We have set up a list of Senators, organized by state, and their contact information at the Sunlight Foundation ( http://www.sunlightfoundation.com/node/2428 ). Join us in moving Congress out of the darkness and into the 21st Century.

Thanks for your help!

Ellen S. Miller

Executive Director

 

Secret hold

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 
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A secret hold is a parliamentary procedure within the Standing Rules of the Senate within the United States Senate that allows one or more Senators to anonymously prevent a motion from reaching a vote on the Senate floor.

Contents

[hide]

[edit] Origin and intent

Sections 2 and 3 of Rule VII (Morning Business) of the Standing Rules of the Senate outline the procedure for bringing motions to the floor of the Senate. Under these rules, "no motion to proceed to the consideration of any bill...shall be entertained...unless by unanimous consent". In practice, this means that a Senator may privately provide notice to their party leadership of their intent to object to a motion. At that point, the motion can not proceed because unanimous consent has not been reached, even though the Senator has not publicly announced their intent to object. This allows a Senator to remain anonymous while preventing the motion to go forward.

The original intent of these sections were to protect a Senator's right to be consulted on legislation that affected the Senator's state or that they had a great interest in. The ability to place a hold would allow that Senator an opportunity to study the legislation and to reflect on what it means before moving forward with further debate and voting.[1]

[edit] Controversy

In August 2006, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 was put on secret hold. This bill, intended to encourage transparency within government, was considered by political pundits to be an especially ironic target of a secret hold and much attention was drawn to the bill and to the procedure itself.[2][3] Bloggers and political activists sought to identify the Senator or Senators responsible by process of elimination, by having constituents contact each Senator and requesting a specific on-the-record denial of placing the secret hold. Within 24 hours, 96 Senators had explicitly denied that they had placed the secret hold, leaving only 4 Senators still suspected and under growing public scrutiny as a result.[4] On August 30, a spokesperson for Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska announced that Stevens had placed a hold on the bill.[5] On August 31, 2006, Sen. Byrd also admitted placing a hold on the bill.[6] Ultimately, the bill passed the Senate unanimously.

In April 2007, the practice received media attention again when an anonymous senator placed a hold on the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act, another bill intended to increase transparency in government.[7] The Sunlight Foundation government watchdog group attempted to "ferret out" the senator who placed the hold.[8]

[edit] Attempts to amend this rule

Throughout the history of the Senate, multiple unsuccessful attempts have been made to abolish this practice.[9][10] The practice was successfully banned in 1997, but only temporarily. Majority leader Trent Lott and minority leader Tom Daschle altered the rule so that anyone intending to hold a bill had to notify the bill's sponsor and the chair of the appropriate committee. That year, the result was that opponents of a bill would wait until the bill was before the entire Senate before announcing their opposition, wasting time and ultimately delaying other popularly-supported legislation in the process. The practice was soon re-instituted.[11]

[edit] Additional Links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Congressional Record: March 28, 2006
  2. ^ Obama-Coburn Accountability Bill Put on "Secret Hold"
  3. ^ Senator puts 'secret hold' on bill to open federal records
  4. ^ Porkbusters: Who is the Secret Holder?
  5. ^ "Sen. Stevens is 'the secret senator'", 2006-08-30. Retrieved on 2006-08-31.
  6. ^ Rebecca Carr. Byrd admits he placed a hold, now lifts it. Palm Beach Post. Retrieved on 2006 August 31.
  7. ^ http://www.sunlightfoundation.com/node/2428
  8. ^ http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/secret-hold-placed-on-senate-disclosures/
  9. ^ Senate Resolution 244 from April 17, 2002
  10. ^ Senate Resolution 216 from August 1, 2003
  11. ^ The Scoop on "Secret Holds": No Rules Apply
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_hold"


 

 

S.223
Title: A bill to require Senate candidates to file designations, statements, and reports in electronic form.
Sponsor: Sen Feingold, Russell D. [WI] (introduced 1/9/2007)      Cosponsors (34)
Latest Major Action: 3/28/2007 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 96.
Jump to: Summary, Major Actions, All Actions, Titles, Cosponsors, Committees, Related Bill Details, Amendments
SUMMARY AS OF:
3/28/2007--Reported to Senate amended.    (There is 1 other summary)

 

Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require Senate candidates to file election-related designations, statements, and reports in electronic form.

Requires the Secretary of the Senate to forward a copy of any electronically filed designation, statement, or report to the Federal Election Commission within one working day (instead of the current two working days) after receiving it.

MAJOR ACTIONS:

 

1/9/2007 Introduced in Senate
3/28/2007 Committee on Rules and Administration. Reported by Senator Feinstein with an amendment. Without written report.
3/28/2007 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 96.
ALL ACTIONS:
1/9/2007:
Introductory remarks on measure. (CR S293)
1/9/2007:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration. (text of measure as introduced: CR S293)
3/14/2007:
Committee on Rules and Administration. Hearings held.
3/28/2007:
Committee on Rules and Administration. Ordered to be reported with an amendment favorably.
3/28/2007:
Committee on Rules and Administration. Reported by Senator Feinstein with an amendment. Without written report.
3/28/2007:
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 96.
TITLE(S):  (italics indicate a title for a portion of a bill)
COSPONSORS(34), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]:     (Sort: by date)

 

Sen Allard, Wayne [CO] - 1/9/2007 Sen Bennett, Robert F. [UT] - 3/28/2007
Sen Biden, Joseph R., Jr. [DE] - 1/10/2007 Sen Bingaman, Jeff [NM] - 3/14/2007
Sen Boxer, Barbara [CA] - 1/9/2007 Sen Byrd, Robert C. [WV] - 3/27/2007
Sen Clinton, Hillary Rodham [NY] - 3/15/2007 Sen Cochran, Thad [MS] - 1/9/2007
Sen Cornyn, John [TX] - 1/9/2007 Sen Dodd, Christopher J. [CT] - 1/23/2007
Sen Domenici, Pete V. [NM] - 1/29/2007 Sen Dorgan, Byron L. [ND] - 1/9/2007
Sen Durbin, Richard [IL] - 1/9/2007 Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA] - 1/9/2007
Sen Graham, Lindsey [SC] - 1/9/2007 Sen Grassley, Chuck [IA] - 1/9/2007
Sen Hagel, Chuck [NE] - 3/28/2007 Sen Hutchison, Kay Bailey [TX] - 1/9/2007
Sen Isakson, Johnny [GA] - 2/14/2007 Sen Kerry, John F. [MA] - 1/9/2007
Sen Landrieu, Mary L. [LA] - 1/9/2007 Sen Levin, Carl [MI] - 1/9/2007
Sen Lieberman, Joseph I. [CT] - 1/9/2007 Sen Lugar, Richard G. [IN] - 1/9/2007
Sen McCain, John [AZ] - 1/9/2007 Sen Menendez, Robert [NJ] - 1/16/2007
Sen Murkowski, Lisa [AK] - 1/9/2007 Sen Nelson, E. Benjamin [NE] - 3/28/2007
Sen Obama, Barack [IL] - 1/9/2007 Sen Reed, Jack [RI] - 1/9/2007
Sen Rockefeller, John D., IV [WV] - 1/9/2007 Sen Salazar, Ken [CO] - 1/9/2007
Sen Sanders, Bernard [VT] - 2/27/2007 Sen Wyden, Ron [OR] - 1/9/2007
COMMITTEE(S):
RELATED BILL DETAILS:

 

AMENDMENT(S):

***NONE***