Push to End Secret Holds Continues
Press Release
Senator Chuck Grassley, along with Senator Ron Wyden, this week filed an amendment to the banking reform bill that would make it even harder for individual senators to secretly obstruct the legislative process. Grassley and Wyden have led the fight to eliminate secret holds, and in 2007, a modified version of their proposal was included in the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act. The amendment offered to the banking reform bill is the same as legislation the Senators introduced on April 27.
"Secret holds have been a staple of the Senate for years, and there's no question that both Democrats and Republicans are responsible for the current abuses," said Grassley. "The previous version of our legislation was so watered down in the final version that I stated at the time it was bound to be abused and ignored. Many of our colleagues have finally taken notice, and have been sharing their thoughts on the Senate floor. I welcome their involvement and I hope they'll work with us to get this real reform done and make holds transparent and accountable."
The amendment, and legislation, would eliminate a Senator's ability to indefinitely hold legislation in secret by requiring Senators to submit their holds to leadership in writing and to publically disclose all holds within two days whether or not the bill or nomination has been brought to the floor for consideration. Leadership will only honor holds that they have in writing and that comply with the two day rule.
The current provision requires Senators to disclose their holds after six days, but the holding period has proven too long to be effective. This requirement is triggered only when the bill is brought to the floor for consideration, so it's possible for Senators to indefinitely block legislation from reaching the floor without ever disclosing their actions.
Grassley has a long-standing practice of making all his holds public by placing a formal statement announcing and explaining the rationale for the hold in the Congressional Record.
Here is a copy of the prepared text of Grassley's floor statement after the Ethics bill was signed into law, containing the requirements for disclosing holds.
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