(CNS News) -- When asked if he would read all 2,456 pages of the Build Back Better Act before voting on it, House Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) said, “Is it possible to read the entire bill?”
At the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, CNS News asked the congressman, “The Build Back Better Act the House Budget Committee approved is 2,456 pages long, will you read the entire bill before you vote on it?”
Clyde responded, “Is it possible to read the entire bill? I would love to read the entire bill before I vote on it, but I don’t think they’re going to give us time to read the entire bill before we vote on it.”
“You know, after all, Nancy Pelosi says they have to vote on it,” he continued, “now remember, they’re in control, so they decide when we vote on it, not us. They said they have to vote on it so they can see what’s in it. I don’t believe in that, okay? I don’t believe that you vote on it before you read it, absolutely not.”
“I prefer to sit and read things, all right?” said Clyde. “Now, you can get to a certain point in it where you realize that what’s in this bill is just not good. And at that point, you can probably stop reading. But I’m of the opinion that I read things before I vote on them, or at least staff helps me read it. So that’s kind of where I am.”
The $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act was approved by the House Budget Committee on Saturday, Sept. 25. Committee chairman, Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), explained the purpose of the bill in a press release.
“The Build Back Better Act makes the transformative investments at the scale necessary to meet the needs of the American people,” Yarmuth said. “The job is not done until we deliver the Build Back Better Act to the Oval Office and get these investments to the American people.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sent a letter to her Democratic colleagues in the House on Sunday, Sept. 26, explaining their plans for the legislation and the rest of the week.
“This week is a week of opportunity, as we work to keep government open, conclude negotiations on the Build Back Better Act and advance the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework,” Pelosi wrote.
Pelosi reportedly was trying to get a vote on the legislation on Thursday, but that was delayed because the progressive Democrats (radical left-wing) in the House do not support breaking the legislation into two separate bills and are holding the line on the $3.5 trillion price tag.
Negotiations in the House are ongoing.
Senate Democrats Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) have repeatedly said they will not vote for a $3.5 trillion bill.