January 03, 2019

New Democrat Coalition Chair Kilmer Statement on House Rule Changes

New Democrat Coalition Chair Derek Kilmer (WA-06) released the following statement after he led a years-long push for rules changes that will modernize the House and make its processes more accessible and ultimately accountable to the American people.

Following the House’s adoption of the new Rules package, Kilmer made the following statement:

“I’ve long said the House was a fixer-upper. Today, the leaders of Congress changed the rules which will help more get done, and give the American people a larger say through their elected representatives,” New Democrat Coalition Chair Derek Kilmer said. “I want to personally thank Chairman Jim McGovern for being extremely receptive to the changes the New Democrat Coalition brought forward. I’ll keep pushing Congress to earn back the trust and confidence of the American people.”

The House rules package includes the following changes for which Rep. Derek Kilmer and the New Democrat Coalition advocated:

  1. RETURN TO REGULAR ORDER
    • Require bills that go through the Rules Committee to have a hearing and a markup before they go to the floor. 
  2. PROVIDE EVERY MEMBER WITH A VOICE
    • Require committees to hold a Member Day hearing, where all Members—regardless of their tenure or position—are provided the opportunity to publicly present their legislative ideas and proposals in an open hearing.
  3. CREATE A SELECT COMMITTEE TO MODERNIZE CONGRESS
    • Establish a bipartisan select committee to study ways to improve and modernize the operation of Congress.
  4. TIME TO READ THE BILL
    • Require bill text to be available for 72 hours before the bill can proceed to the House Floor for a vote. This will ensure Members have adequate time to read and understand legislation before casting their votes.
    • The current House rule only requires slightly more than 24 hours of availability.
  5. REFORM THE MOTION TO VACATE THE CHAIR
    • Reform the motion to vacate the chair to a more thoughtful process in order to prevent the Speaker from being held hostage by a single Member.
  6. MODERNIZE THE DISCHARGE PETITION
    • Allow discharge petitions to be considered under a 3-day notice process similar to privileged resolutions, in order to facilitate their use and effectiveness, while still requiring 218 signatures.

In September 2018, New Democrat Coalition Members sent a letter urging the House Rules Committee to adopt rules that will promote more bipartisanship and consensus building. This letter, led by New Democrat Coalition Chair Derek Kilmer, outlines principles to restore the democratic process to give constituents a voice in our Nation’s Capital again.

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