- WASHINGTON, DC -- Under
the martial law procedure, long-standing House rules that require at least
one day between the unveiling of significant legislation and the House
floor vote on that legislation so that Members can learn what they are
being asked to vote on are swept away.
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- Instead, under "martial law," the Leadership
can file legislation with tens or hundreds of pages of fine print and move
immediately to debate and votes on it, before Members of Congress, the
media, or the public have an opportunity to understand fully what provisions
have been altered or inserted into the legislation behind closed doors.
This is the procedure that the Leadership intends to use to muscle through
important bills in the next two days.
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