Congressman tries to force vote on healthcare transparency

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) is pressing ahead with his effort to open up healthcare negotiations between the House and Senate. 

Buchanan announced today that he will file a discharge petition to force a vote on his "Sunshine Resolution," which would require public access to healthcare negotiations.

A discharge petition allows a sponsor of legislation to bypass the committee process and go straight to a floor vote if he or she can get 218 signatures, indicating that a majority of the House supports the bill.

That will be a tough hill for Buchanan to climb, but he's going to try anyway.

"Health care reform is one of the largest public policy reforms taken up by Congress in generations,” Buchanan said in a statement  “If enacted, the final bill will impact the lives of all Americans.  With so much at stake, any conference committee or meetings held to determine the content of sweeping national health care legislation should be held in full public view, not behind closed doors.”

Democrats have indicated they will skip a formal conference committee and instead hold negotiations in private. That decision has drawn criticism from both Republicans and C-SPAN, which asked Democrats to open negotiations to TV cameras.

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