Pete Sessions to Serve on GOP Majority Transition Team

Press Release

U.S. Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX-32) today was named to serve on the Republican Majority Transition Team -- comprised of 22 members who will work to ensure a seamless transition to a new Republican Majority in the 112th Congress. To prepare the House to focus on the American people's priorities in January, the team has been charged with implementing the congressional reforms outlined in the Pledge to America and looking for additional ways to make Congress more transparent, cost-effective, and accountable to the people. In response to today's announcement, Congressman Sessions released the following statement:

"The American people have sent Washington a powerful message that they will not tolerate their voices being ignored," said Sessions. "The House of Representatives should be the People's House, and I am pleased to be a member of the Republican Majority Transition Team to ensure that the American people have the access, transparency, and accountability that they deserve from Congress. It's time to end the backroom deals and legislative trickery that have defied the will of the people and led to unsustainable debt and overgrown government. It's time to read the bills, let sunlight into the legislative process, and return the House to constitutional principles that respect the voice of Americans and their individual liberties. The groundwork for these changes will be laid by this team, and I am honored to be a part of this historic transition."

NOTE: The Republican Pledge to America sets forth a plan to reform Congress and thereby begin restoring the public trust. These reforms include:

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A requirement that legislation be available online for three days before a vote so that Members of Congress and the American people can read the bill.
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A requirement that all bills include a citation of constitutional authority so that Congress respects the limits imposed on it by our founding document.
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Changes to House rules to make it harder to increase spending and easier to cut it so that we begin a new era of fiscal responsibility in Washington.
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An end to the practice of passing "comprehensive" or "omnibus" bills that package unrelated legislation together in an effort to avoid public scrutiny.

Republican Leader Boehner has also pledged to end the days of bills being written in the Speaker's Office behind closed doors and instead vowed to move bill-writing authority back to committees, which would be required to post amendments and votes online to ensure full transparency. For more information on the Republican Majority Transition, visit www.gopleader.gov/newmajority.

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