"HR
111th CONGRESS
Session
H. R.
AN ACT
To simplify text of Congressional legislation so that average Americans are able to thoroughly understand exactly the intent of Congress in passing these Bills and Resolutions and to disallow earmarks, amendments, riders, and/or add-ons that have no logical relationship to the Act.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Simplification of Legislation Act'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) In recent years legislation has become more complicated in language.
(2) Many earmarks, amendments, riders, and add-ons have been added to legislation. Many of these have no relationship to the actual legislation being considered.
(3) The American people are fed up with Congress writing legislation that is totally unreadable to the average American and can only be understood by persons with a background in legal jargon.
(4) The American people are fed up with Congress enacting legislation that contains unrelated provisions and appropriates funds outside the scope of the intended purpose of the legislation.
(5) The American people are fed up with Congress developing and passing legislation that is not read and properly analyzed by members of Congress, mainly due to not allowing a sufficient amount of time for members to read, provide input back to their constituents and receive feedback.
(6) The American people are fed up with Congress developing and passing legislation that originates from and favors powerful lobby interests and not from constituents.
SEC. 3. SIMPLIFICATION OF LEGISLATIVE TEXT.
(a) Comprehension Level of Legislation -
(1) IN GENERAL- With the exception of scientific terms, all legislation must have a comprehension level that the average American citizen can understand.
(2) DEFINITIONS-
(A) WRITTEN COMPREHENSION LEVELS- Levels of written comprehension are defined as -
(i) Level 1 – Elementary - Basic command of the language needed in a range of familiar situations, for example: can understand and pass on simple messages.
(ii) Level 2 – Lower intermediate - Limited but effective command of the language in familiar situations, for example: can take part in a routine meeting on familiar topics, particularly in an exchange of simple factual information.
(iii) Level 3 – Upper Intermediate - Generally effective command of the language in a range of situations, for example: can make a contribution to discussions on practical matters.
(iv) Level 4 – Lower Advanced - Good operational command of the language in a wide range of real world and meetings; and situations, for example: can participate effectively in discussions
(v) Level 5 – Upper Advanced - Fully operational command of the language at a high level in most situations, for example: can argue a case confidently, justifying and making points persuasively.
(B) NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION- The National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL)is a nationally representative assessment of English literacy among American adults age 16 and older. Sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), NAAL is the nation's most comprehensive measure of adult literacy.
(i) NAAL has established four levels of Prose Literacy –
(a) Below Basic – no more than the most simple and concrete literary skills;
(b) Basic – can perform simple and everyday literary activities;
(c) Intermediate – can perform moderately challenging literary activities; and
(d) Proficient – can perform complex and challenging literary activities.
(C) RECENT STATISTICS – Information available from as recent as 2003, indicates that roughly eighty-five percent of American citizens are at Level 4 and have an Intermediate level of Prose Literacy.
(b) Vocabulary- The average American citizen has a vocabulary level of between 850 and 950 words (excluding proper nouns and specialized terms). This should be taken into consideration when writing legislation.
(c) New Legislation – Any Legislation written after the passage of this bill:
(1) Text of Legislation will be -
(A) easy to read and comprehend by:
(i) Ensuring that “legal-ease” be removed and replaced with simple to understand terms and concepts;
(ii) No earmarks, amendments, riders, and/or add-ons that are not directly related to the intent of the original Legislation.
(iii) All Legislation must be released to Legislators with adequate time to be properly read and analyzed, provide input back to their constituents and receive feedback.
(iv) All legislation must provide the original source of the draft and what groups or persons outside of Congress provided input
(2) Public Access prior to votes -
(A) All Legislation (with final markup) will be made available to the public a minimum of ten working days prior to scheduled final vote.
(B) No Legislation will be allowed for Floor vote without meeting those conditions stated in this bill.
(3) The Congress may waive these provisions only in the case of a National Emergency, where an immediate response is the only logical course of action.
(d) Additional Conditions – Failure of a Legislator to read Legislation prior to a Floor vote may be interpreted as non-performance of his or her duties to their respective constituents and may be used as grounds for recall.
Passed the House of Representatives
Attest:
Clerk.
END"
So Congressman or Senator - I have written the draft for you. When will you introduce it?


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