WASHINGTON – Congressman Thaddeus McCotter (MI-11) yesterday voted to approve H.R. 4890, the Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 2006. The legislation, which was approved by the House by a vote of 247-172, would give the President the power to single out questionable spending projects and request an up or down vote to remove them from bills passed by Congress.
“The legislative line item veto will make the federal budget process more transparent and more accountable to American taxpayers,” said McCotter, a co-sponsor of the legislation and a member of the House Budget Committee. “This legislation will put a big red ‘STOP’ sign in front of wasteful ‘bridges to nowhere.’”
The legislation would give the President the authority to propose the elimination of specific provisions of a spending bills passed by Congress. These proposed eliminations would then be introduced in Congress and be put on a congressional "fast track" for consideration to receive an up or down vote within 10 days of introduction. If the individual rescission is approved by both chambers it will be eliminated from the previous bill. Each of the rescissions would be considered individually by Congress, and the President would not be able to propose new spending with this procedure. In addition to spending provisions, this procedure could also be used to eliminate special interest tax breaks that apply to less the one hundred individuals.
The Legislative Line Item Veto Act is similar to a proposal passed in 1998 which was ruled unconstitutional by U.S. Supreme Court. These constitutional issues, however, were addressed in the new proposal by including a legislative procedure to preserve congressional authority and involvement in the process.
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