Wyden Testifies, Calls for End to “Secret Holds” in Senate
Rules Committee hearing focuses on Grassley-Wyden sunshine proposal

June 17, 2003

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) today testified before the Senate Rules Committee on behalf of legislation that would end the practice of “secret holds” in the Senate. Wyden, along with Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), has long sought to require Senators to make a public announcement when they place a “hold” on, or announce a formal objection to, legislation or a nomination before the Senate. The “hold” allows a single Senator to stop the progress of legislation or a nomination in the Senate, and is often used by Senators to force changes to legislation before it proceeds to a Senate vote. Anonymous holds can stop the legislative process indefinitely, as the unknown Senator’s concerns cannot be addressed to allow legislation or a nomination to proceed.

Last month Grassley, who also testified today, and Wyden introduced Resolution 151 to change the Standing Rules of the Senate and require any Senator who objects to legislation or a nomination to disclose the “hold” in the Congressional Record within two legislative days.

“As United States Senators we occupy a position of public trust, and I believe the exercise of the power that has been vested in us should always be accompanied by public accountability,” Wyden said in his testimony. “I would argue that it is not the hold, but the anonymity of the hold that is so odious to the basic premise of our democratic system. The Grassley-Wyden resolution would bring the anonymous hold out of the shadows of the Senate, and assure that the awesome power possessed by an individual Senator to stop legislation or a nomination wougld be accompanied by the sunshine of public accountability.

Today’s hearing in the Senate Rules Committee, chaired by Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.), is the latest step in a seven-year effort by Wyden and Grassley to end the practice of secret holds. In 1997 and again in 1998, the United States Senate voted unanimously in favor of Grassley-Wyden amendments to require that a notice of intent to object be published in the Congressional Record within 48 hours, but the amendments failed to survive conference proceedings.

In February 1999, at the request of Wyden and Grassley, then-Majority Leader Lott and Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) set forth a policy requiring Aall Senators wishing to place a hold on any legislation or executive calendar business [to] notify the sponsor of the legislation and the committee of jurisdiction of their concerns.” The new policy also indicated that staff-initiated holds would not be honored without written notification from the Senator. However, the use of secret holds and staff-initiated holds eventually returned to common practice.

The practice of secret holds could be eliminated in several ways. Senate Resolution 151 would change the Standing Rules, which do not need to be renewed at the beginning of every Congress, and would thereby permanently end secret holds. At today’s hearing, Senator Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) announced that he will become a cosponsor of the Grassley-Wyden measure.

 

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