You may think that the United States House of Representatives only passes legislation while in session when members have an opportunity to vote. Not so. On Tuesday, a small group of representatives on the House floor, while most representatives were far afield on recess, sought to quickly approve a 19 billion dollars disaster relief bill and a two-week extension of the National Flood Insurance Program. They would have succeeded, but for the fact that Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) objected on the House floor, preventing the legislation from being approved.

Speaking briefly on the House floor to make his objection to passing the disaster relief bill without a recorded vote of House members, Massie stated: “If the speaker of this House felt that this was must-pass legislation, the speaker of this House should have called a vote on this bill before sending every member of Congress on recess for ten days.”

While Massie’s action may just delay by a few days the House approving the legislation, his action can help ensure that the House meets its obligation of being a deliberative body in which all members, instead of a select subset of members, can vote on whether legislation is approved.

Massie is a member of the Ron Paul Institute’s Advisory Board.

Reprinted with permission from the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.