
(CNS News) -- When asked if he would read all 2,456 pages of the Build Back Better Act before voting on it, House Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Tex.) said, “How long would it take you to read 2,450 pages?”
At the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, CNS News asked the congressman, “The Build Back Better Act the House Budget Committee approved is 2,465 pages long, will you read the entire bill before voting on it?”
Nehls replied, “When are we voting? Good question, right? So, if that’s going to be a part of the vote this week, which has got to be either today or tomorrow morning from my understanding, how long would it take you to read 2,450 pages?”
“I’m assuming we don’t have it because they probably don’t want us to see what’s in it,” said Nehls. “When you go through 2,400 pages, I’m sure there’s a lot of, I’m going to say, unnecessary junk and garbage in it not even related to infrastructure.’
“So, they’ll probably try to keep that document hidden far away from my eyes because they certainly do not want to give me the time to expose what’s in it,” he added.
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 spending bill.