From the Wall Street Journal's Editorial Page
August 17, 1993


                          End Congress's Gag Rule

     We promised in this space recently to publish the names of
all the Members, of the House of Representatives who refused to
sign Rep. Jim Inhofe's petition to reform the secretive
"discharge petition"process. That list appears below.

     Americans overwhelmingly favor term limits, a line-item veto
and a balanced-budget amendment. But getting those issues a
hearing on the House floor is. nearly impossible because hostile
House leaders can bottle them up in the Rules Committee.  Rep.
Inhofe is risking the leadership's wrath by blowing the whistle
on the process they use to hold bills hostage.

     The only way to dislodge bills from committee is if 218
Members - a House majority - sign a discharge petition.  But
because the list is strictly secret, the Speaker can easily
squash such petitions by pressuring Members to drop off.  Only 44
of 490 discharge petitions have ever succeeded.

     Congress's secret list allows Members to practice a form of
hypocrisy.  They can publicly support popular bills while quietly
withholding their names from the document that would help them
become law.

     Rep. Inhofe says it's time voters learned where their
representatives really stand.  His bill to make the secret list
public is, of course, shelved in committee.  So just before
Congress recessed, he announced that he would release to us the
names of the 223 Members who had not signed a discharge petition
for his bill.

     Listed Members were informed by Rep. Inhofe that their names
would be published.  At one point the list of those who hadn't
signed his petition had only 217 names. But when Mr. Inhofe came
within one signature of the House majority he needed, six Members
suddenly removed their names from his petition.  Those Members
who backed out appear below in all capital letters.

     Two others co-sponsored Mr. Inhofe's bill but didn't sign
his petition.  Rep. Martin Meehan calls this an oversight, and he
will sign. Rep. James Hayes may sign, but he "prefers to be asked
rather than told."

     Rules Committee Chairman Joe Moakley is clearly worried.
Last week, he faxed Members a letter suggesting that they call
colleagues on the Inhofe petition "to ask them to reconsider
their support."

     A number of groups, including some tied to Ross Perot, are
now up to speed on how arcane rules distort the legislative
process.  Don't be surprised if a fair number of voters now try
to convince their Members that the time has come to give up their
secret rites.

Nell Abercrombie (D. Hawaii)
Gary Ackerman (D. N.Y.)
Michael Andrews (D. Texas)
Robert Andrews (D. N.J.)
Thomas Andrews (D. Maine)
Jim Bacchus (D. Fla.)
Scotty Baesler (D. Ky.)
Peter Barca (D. Wis.)
Thomas Barlow (D. Ky.)
Thomas Barrett (D. Wis.)
Xavier Becerra (D. Calif.)
Anthony Beilenson (D. Calif.)
Howard Betman (D. Calif.)
Tom Bevill (D. Ala.)
Sanford Bishop (D. Ga.)
Lucien Blackwell (D. Pa.)
David Bonior (D. Mich.)
ROBERT BORSKI (D. Pa.)
Rick Boucher (D. Va.)
BILL BREWSTER (D. Okla)
Jack Brooks (D. Texas)
Glen Browder (D. Ala.)
Corrine Brown (D. FIn.)
George Brown (D. Calif.)
Sherrod Brown (D. Ohio)
John Bryant (D. Texas)
Leslie Byrne (D. Va.)
Benjamin Cardin (D. Md.)
Bob Carr (D. Mich.)
Jim Chapman (D. Texas)
Bill Clay (D. Mo.)
Eva Clayton (D. NC.)
BOB CLEMENT (D. Tenn.)
James Clyburn (D. S.C.)
Ronald Coleman (D. Texas)
Barbara-Rose Collins (D. Mich.)
Cardiss Collins (D. Ill.)
John Conyors (D. Mich.)
Jim Cooper (D. Tenn.)
Sam Coppersmith (D. Ariz.)
William Coyne (D. Pa.)
Buddy Darden (D. Ga.)
E. De La Garza (D. Texas)
Rosa DeLauro (D. Conn.)
Ronald Dellums (D. Calif.)
Norman Dicks (D. Wash.)
Butler Derrick (D. S.C.)
Peter Deutsch (D. Fla.)
John DingeIl (D. Mich.)
Julian Dixon (D. Cafif.)
Calvin Dooley (D. Calif.)
Richard Durbin (D. Ill.)
Chet Edwards (D. Texas)
Don Edwards (D. Cafif.)
Eliot Engel (D. N.Y.)
GLENN ENGLISH (D. Okla.)
Anna Eshoo (D. Calif.)
Lane Evans (D. Ill.)
Sam Farr (D. Calif.)
Vic Fazio (D. Calif.)
Cleo Fields (D. La.)
Bob Filner (D. Calif.)
Floyd Flake (D. N.Y.)
Thomas Foglietta (D. Pa.)
Thomas Foley (D. Wash.)
Harold Ford (D. Tom.)
William Ford (D. Mich.)
Barney Frank (D. Mass.)
Martin Frost (D. Texas)
Elizabeth Furse (D. Ore.)
Sam Gejdenson (D. Conn.)
Richard Gephardt (D. Mo.)
Sam Gibbons (D. Fla.)
Benjamin Gilman (R. N.Y.)
Dan Glickman (D. Kan.)
Henry Gonzalez (D. Texas)
Bart Gordon (D. Tenn.)
Gene Green (D. Texas)
Luis Gutierrez (D. Ill.)
TONY HALL (D. Ohio)
Dan Hamburg (D. Calif.)
Lee Hamilton (D. Ind.)
Jane Harman (D. Calif.)
Alcee Hastings (D. Fla.)
James Hayes (D. La.)
Bill Hefner (D. N.C.)
Earl Hilliard (D. Ala.)
Maurice Hinchey (D. N.Y.)
Peter Hoagland (D. Neb.)
George Hochbrueckner (Q, N.Y.)
Tim Holden (D. Pa.)
Steny Hoyer (D. Md.)
William Hughes (D. N.J.)
Earl Hutto (D. Fla.)
William Jefferson (D. La.)
Don Johnson (D. Ga.)
Eddie Bernice Johnson (D. Texas)
Tim Johnson (D. S.D.)
Harry Johnston (D. Fla.)
Paul Kanjorski (D. Pa.)
Marcy Kaptur (D. Ohio)
Joseph Kennedy (D. Mass.)
Barbara Kennelly (D. Conn.)
Dale Kildee (D. Mich.)
Gerald Kleczka (D. Wis.)
Herb Klein (D. N.J.)
Ron Klink (D. Pa.)
Michael Kopetski (D. Ore.)
Mike Kreidler (D. Wash.)
John LaFalce (D. N.Y.)
Blanche Lambert (D. Ariz.)
Martin Lancaster (D. NC.)
Tom Lantos (D. Calif.)
Larry LaRocco (D. Idaho)
Richard Lehman (D. Calif)
Sander Levin (D. Mich.)
John Lewis (D. Ga.)
Marilyn Lloyd (D. Tenn.)
Nita Lowey (D. N.Y.)
Frank McCloskey (D. Ind.)
Jim McDermott (D. Wash.)
Cynthia McKinney (D. Ga.)
Michael McNulty (D. N.Y.)
Carolyn Maloney (D. N.Y.)
David Mann (D. Ohio)
Thomas Manton (D. N.Y.)
Marj. Margolies-Mezvinsky (D. Pa.)
Edward Markey (D. Mass.)
Matthew Martinez (D. Calif.)
Robert Matsui (D. Calif.)
Romano Mazzoli (D. Ky.)
Martin Meehan (D. Mass.)
Carrio Meek (D. Fla.)
Robert Menendez (D. N.J.)
Kweisi Mfume (D. Md.)
George Miller (D. Calif.)
Norman Mineta (D. Calif.)
David Minge (D. Minn.)
Patsy Mink (D. Hawaii)
Joe Moakley (D.. Mass.)
Alan Mollohan (D. W.Va.)
Sonny Montgomery (D. Miss)
JIM MORAN (D. Va.)
Austin Murphy (D. Pa.)
John Murtha (D. Pa.)
John Myers (R. Ind.)
Jerrold Nadler (D. N.Y.)
William Natcher (D. Ky.)
Richard Neal (D. Mass.)
Stephen Neal (D. N.C.)
James Oberstar (D. Minn.)
David Obey (D. Wis.)
John Olver (D. Mass.)
Solomon Ortiz (D. Texas)
Bill Orton (D. Utah)
Major Owens (D. N.Y.)
Ed Pastor (D. Ariz.)
Donald Payne (D. N.J.)
Nancy Pelosi (D. Calif.)
Coilin Peterson (D. Minn.)
J.J. Pickle (D. Texas)
Earl Pomeroy (D. ND.)
David Price (D. N.C.)
Nick Rahall (D. WVa.)
Charles Rangel (D. N.Y.)
Jack Reed (D. R.I.)
Mel Reynolds (D. Ill.)
Bill Richardson (D. NM)
Tim Roemer (D. Ind.)
Charlie Rose (D. N.C.)
Dan Rostenkowski (D. Ill.)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D. Calif.)
Bobby Rush (D. Ill.)
Martin Olav Sabo (D. Minn.)
Bernard Sanders (I. Vt.)
Bill Sarpalius (D. Texas)
Thomas Sawyer (0. Ohio)
Lynn Schenk (D. Calif.)
Patricia Schroeder (D. Colo.)
Charles Schumer (D. N.Y.)
Robert Scott (D. Va.)
Jose Serrano (D. NY.)
Philip Sharp (D. Ind.)
Norman Sisisky (D. Va.)
David Skaggs (D. Colo.)
Ike Skelton (D. Mo.)
Louise Slaughter (D. N.Y.)
Neal Smith (D. Iowa)
John Spratt (D. S.C.)
Fortney Pete Stark (D. Calif.)
Louis Stokes (D. Ohio)
Ted Strickland (D. Ohio)
Gerry Studds (D. Mass.)
Al Swift (D. Wash.)
Mike Synar (D. Okla.)
John Tanner (D. Tenn.)
Frank Tejeda (D. Texas)
Bennie Thompson (D. Miss.)
Ray Thornton (D. Ariz.)
Karen Thurman (D. Fla.)
Esteban Torres (D. Calif.)
Robert Torricelli (D. N.J.)
Edolphus Towns (D. N.Y.)
Walter Tucker (D. Calif.)
Jolene Unsoeld (D. Wash.)
Nydia Velazquez (D. N.Y.)
Bruce Vento (D. Minn.)
Peter Visclosky (D. Ind.)
Harold Volkmer (D. Me.)
Craig Washington (D. Texas)
Maxine Waters (D. Calif.)
Melvin Watt (D. N.C.)
Henry Waxman (D. Calif.)
Alan Wheat (D. Mo.)
Jamie Whitten (D. Miss.)
Pat Williams (D. Mont.)
Charles Wilson (D. Texas)
Robert Wise (D. W.Va.)
Lynn Woolsay (D. Calif.)
Ron Wyden (D. Ore.)
Albert R. Wynn (D. Md.)
Sidney Yates (D. Ill.)