Dear Speaker Ryan: It’s about time we return to regular order

During his first speech as Speaker of the House, Speaker Paul D. Ryan made a commitment to return the U.S. House of Representatives to “regular order” — a process by which bills are debated through the bipartisan committee process under an open rule that allows amendments to be fully considered. Today, Congressman Dan Kildee and I sent the following letter to the new Speaker, urging him to remember and keep this important promise.

Dear Speaker Ryan,

As you begin your term as the 54th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, we urge you to reinstate the practice and policies of regular order.

While each Member may define regular order in a slightly different manner, there is general agreement that getting the House back to its own time-tested rules of operation — centering on open, bipartisan debate, up or down votes on amendments, and empowering every Member to fully participate in the process — would be a widely welcomed effort.

Simply put, regular order is how we find common ground, fix things, and get things done.

When the opposite happens, as we have seen time and time again, chaos ensues as legislation stalls because it’s been written behind closed doors, without consideration by committee or full membership and presented under a closed rule with no opportunity to offer amendments.

Ultimately, it will be the middle class, our seniors, veterans and students who will benefit from a more open legislative process that fosters bipartisanship and cooperation.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

Richard M. Nolan, Member of Congress

Dan Kildee, Member of Congress

View our letter here.