Read Silently While We Read Aloud
Remember that from days in elementary school…the teacher would read a story, and every student would have a copy of the book. The teacher would encourage learning by saying, “read silently while I read aloud”.
That’s what U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin did Friday, by objecting to the pro forma waiving of the reading of the House spending bill that included some money for COVID relief. That meant all 628 pages of the bill had to be read, out loud, with the Senate in session. Granted, no one was there to hear it, but it had to be read.
And that took 10 hours late Friday night, then overnight, then into Saturday morning. The idea was to delay Senate consideration of the measure, the outcome of which was a foregone conclusion, the bill was going to pass. So all it did was create a stunt and cause some raspy voices for the Senate clerks who had to carry out the duty. Seems like there should be a rule that the person who wants it read, should have to read it themselves.
But I’m intrigued by the 10 hours part. What’s the difference in time between reading something silently yourself, and having someone read it to you? To some degree, reading it yourself may take longer, because you’re inclined to go back and re-read something that was not clear. And especially in this case, the clerks were no doubt reading as fast as they could, just to get done.
For the sake of argument, let’s go with the fact that it would take you, as a member of the U.S. House or Senate, 10 hours to read the bill. How many representatives did that, given when they got the bill versus when the debate and vote began? Senators had about five days, including a weekend…but again, how many actually took the 10 hours to read the bill, which if printed would be a full ream of paper plus a quarter of another?
Just curious. Because I think the answer is an embarrassingly low number.
