Reps. Lipinski and LaHood Lead Bipartisan Effort to Make Congress Work [H. Con. Res. 28]

02/21/2017

[reprint of Rep. Lipinski’s news release]

[J.P. McJefferson comment: I think it is notable that in this effort to reform Congress "The Joint Committee would be made up of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, 12 members of the House and 12 members of the Senate." This shared power arrangement is what I have been advocating in several previous posts as the the Achilles' heel, the linchpin of Congressional dysfunction -- the one thing, that if you could fix it – Congress would function better. See links to previous posts below.]

Congressmen Dan Lipinski (D-IL-3) and Darin LaHood (R-IL-18) have introduced legislation designed to make Congress work again for the American people.  H. Con. Res. 28 would establish a Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress, a powerful legislative tool that Congress effectively employed three times in the 20th century to overcome legislative dysfunction.  This bipartisan, bicameral committee would be tasked with analyzing suggestions from congressional experts and the general public, and then making recommendations for reforming congressional procedures so that Congress could more effectively address major issues faced by our nation.

“When I was a teacher, I taught about how Congress operates, but it doesn’t take a congressional scholar to understand that the Legislative Branch is not working effectively for the American people,” said Rep. Lipinski.  “Americans understand that the legislative process is not working effectively when they see Congress failing to act to address major issues until faced with a crisis; even then Congress waits until the last minute to act or sometimes even fails to act as we saw with the government shutdown a few years ago.  In order to conduct the peoples’ business more effectively, Congress must streamline rules and procedures, improve efficiency in the committees and on the floor of the House and Senate, increase participation of the members in the legislative process, and encourage bipartisan cooperation.  Hopefully, this Joint Committee would be a good step in creating a Congress that works for the American people.”

The Joint Committee would be made up of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, 12 members of the House and 12 members of the Senate, with a specific mandate to make recommendations across the spectrum of needed change in a timely fashion.  The Joint Committee would focus on restoring Congress’ ability to fulfill its basic responsibilities, including oversight, authorizations, appropriations, legislation, and passing a budget.  Specifically, the Joint Committee would first look to overhaul the legislative rules and procedures that internally dictate how Congress operates.  Then it would work to empower legislators to take ownership of the legislative process, debate issues, introduce amendments, and get laws enacted.  Finally, the Joint Committee would make recommendations to improve the relationship between the people and Congress.  The process would be open to the public and could draw on the expertise and experiences of the private sector.

 “Congress must earn America’s trust back,” stated Rep. LaHood.  “At this pivotal time in our nation’s history, the Legislative Branch must function effectively to address the challenges we face.  No matter how good our intentions, noble our cause, or hard we work, problems won’t be solved if the institution doesn’t function.  There is a plethora of reform ideas, but there is not an official mechanism to motivate Congress to evaluate those recommendations holistically, transparently, and speedily. This bill is a simple first step towards addressing the dysfunction that the American people see and what we, as Representatives, experience in Congress.  Whether reform requires changes in law, like evaluating the budget process, changes in procedure such as committee structure, or changes in the operation between the House, the Senate, and the White House, we need to take a hard look at what systemic improvements are necessary to overcome gridlock, to govern effectively, and restore America’s confidence in our first branch of our government.”

Joint Committees on Congress have been created at crucial periods before, and have yielded real results.  The Joint Committee of 1945, 1965, and 1992 each ultimately resulted in necessary reforms that were adopted in the form of Legislative Reorganization Acts.  These Joint Committees were formed at quarter century intervals, and it’s been 25 years since the last Joint Committee convened. 

The measure already enjoys a broad coalition of support from former members of Congress, bipartisan groups focused on congressional reform, and other interested stakeholders.

“The formation of a Joint Committee to reform Congress is a great step toward eliminating the gridlock and hyper partisanship that has infected Congress for too long and prevented our country from moving forward,” said Mark Strand, president of the Congressional Institute.  “Through the reforms a Joint Committee will be empowered to recommend, the bill-making process can be opened up to more lawmakers so they can truly fulfill their duties as legislators.  A Joint Committee can also help repair the broken budget process and revitalize the standing committees in the U.S. House and Senate so they function as intended.  Significant reforms to the rules and structures will allow lawmakers to better serve their constituents and give America the Congress it deserves.”

“We welcome the introduction of the Congress of Tomorrow resolution as the starting point of a discussion on restoring the legislative abilities of Congress,” said the Bipartisan Policy Center.  “We look forward to working with Reps. LaHood and Lipinski to ensure its prompt consideration.” 

“It is time for Congress to re-examine its structure, processes, and operations through a Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress,” stated the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF).  “For nearly 40 years the CMF has conducted a significant amount of research with congressional offices, Members, staff, and institutional offices.  A thoughtful, bipartisan effort aimed at improving the institution would result in a better Congress, better laws, and better service to the American people.  CMF applauds Representatives Darin LaHood and Dan Lipinski for calling for a Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress.”

Contact Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL)

Contact Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL)

Access H. Con. Res. 28

Democracy.io use subject line #H.Con.Res.28 

This site was designed to make it easy to contact your Senators & Representative

Cosponsors

Rep. Krishnamoorthi, Raja [D-IL-8]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Kind, Ron [D-WI-3]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Moulton, Seth [D-MA-6]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Walz, Timothy J. [D-MN-1]*	02/16/2017
Rep. O'Halleran, Tom [D-AZ-1]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Murphy, Stephanie N. [D-FL-7]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Wasserman Schultz, Debbie [D-FL-23]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Sires, Albio [D-NJ-8]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Peters, Scott H. [D-CA-52]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Vargas, Juan [D-CA-51]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Veasey, Marc A. [D-TX-33]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Loebsack, David [D-IA-2]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Reed, Tom [R-NY-23]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Hultgren, Randy [R-IL-14]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Moolenaar, John R. [R-MI-4]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Young, David [R-IA-3]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Graves, Garret [R-LA-6]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Denham, Jeff [R-CA-10]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Kinzinger, Adam [R-IL-16]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Byrne, Bradley [R-AL-1]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Bergman, Jack [R-MI-1]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Curbelo, Carlos [R-FL-26]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Griffith, H. Morgan [R-VA-9]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Renacci, James B. [R-OH-16]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Bost, Mike [R-IL-12]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Roskam, Peter J. [R-IL-6]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Davis, Rodney [R-IL-13]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Rooney, Thomas J. [R-FL-17]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Messer, Luke [R-IN-6]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Coffman, Mike [R-CO-6]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Gallagher, Mike [R-WI-8]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-8]*	02/16/2017
Rep. O'Rourke, Beto [D-TX-16]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Cooper, Jim [D-TN-5]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Costa, Jim [D-CA-16]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Brownley, Julia [D-CA-26]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Sinema, Kyrsten [D-AZ-9]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Smucker, Lloyd [R-PA-16]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Joyce, David P. [R-OH-14]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Donovan, Daniel M., Jr. [R-NY-11]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Rouzer, David [R-NC-7]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Bacon, Don [R-NE-2]*	02/16/2017
Rep. Stefanik, Elise M. [R-NY-21]	02/27/2017
Rep. Cartwright, Matt [D-PA-17]	03/09/2017
Rep. Correa, J. Luis [D-CA-46]	03/09/2017

Links to Previous Postings On Shared Committee Power

Beating The Dead Horse Of Bipartisanship

Congress Could Be Functional; If It Wanted To 

Bipartisanship: How The GOP Could Heal A Divided Nation

Give 'em enough rope. . . Going fishing

I was trying to prepare a blog post on some of the latest statements from the President which I believe are contributing to further divide the country and accelerate further the dysfunction of the government.

I was going to comment on the President’s statement that, “We lived in a divided nation.  And I am going to try -- I will do everything within my power to fix that. . .”

And also his comment about, “I just see many, many untruthful things. And I tell you what else I see.  I see tone.  You know the word “tone.” The tone is such hatred. . .”

And then, of course, I couldn’t pass over the latest comments about the press: “I want to see an honest press. . . it’s so important to the public to get an honest press. . .” And, the follow-up in a tweet: “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” And, the Fox News endorsement, “. . .and I have to say “Fox & Friends” in the morning, they're very honorable people.”

I have tried in previous posts to identify and explain some of the critical elements of our broken government and some ways to address or suggest possible solutions to those issues.

I have also tried, even considering the fact that I am biased, to identify the fact that both Democrats and Republicans are contributing to the broken, dysfunctional government and both play the silly “gridlock games.”

However, the events of the last several weeks and the current level of discourse on politics and the state of the American democracy has been revealing to me.

This is not the proper environment for a rational discussion of issues related to broken government. I was reminded of my own words in a previous April 30, 2016, blog post – What Is Broken Government & What Do We Really Want?

There I pointed out that sometimes the fix is not immediate and you must be careful what you wish for and deal with the consequences. I said:

“So, what's the goal? What's the end game to fixing a broken, rigged government? It's to make the politicians listen and do what the majority wants -- Right? Well, before we go too far we should have a little discussion about -- "Being careful what you wish for."

“We have to do a little self examination here. You see, we already have a system that is "rigged" -- where majority doesn't rule. So, what we're seeking is a "majority rule" system. Okay, so what if the majority doesn't agree with you personally? Are you ready to suck it up and live with the "majority rule"?

“You see, that's the hard part. . . at any given point in time. . . sometimes, the majority opinion won't necessarily agree with yours. So what are you going to do? Now what's wrong with the system? You want a system that always delivers the result you want? Sorry, that's not the way it works.

“So, here's the caveat -- over time, the majority system corrects itself. At least it corrects itself to the majority at that time. Sometimes the majority gets fooled or needs to experience a certain policy or ideology. Then, if the vision does not turn into reality, the majority corrects itself by changing direction. You have to trust the majority system. And, if you can't live with majority rule then you should probably seek another alternative, somewhere else.”

Well, I was commenting then on getting to the point of majority rule which I believe in. But, as I have also pointed out, it gets complicated when you consider the Electoral College process -- Another Piece of the Broken Government Puzzle; Does my vote for the president actually count?

My post on “what do we really want” and comment above, written before the November election basically assumed that the person who would win the Electoral College vote would also win the popular vote. As we know now that was not the case and the loser actually received 2.8 million votes more than the winner. Although I disagree with the Electoral College process, it was the legal and known process for last November’s election and I accept that.

But, my point is still the same. “Sometimes the majority [or Electoral College results] gets fooled or needs to experience a certain policy or ideology. Then, if the vision does not turn into reality, the majority corrects itself by changing direction.”

For me, that’s where we are right now. We are waiting to see if this new President’s vision, and the vision of those who voted for him, will turn into reality. If not, the ingrained structure of our democracy which binds us all together will correct itself and we will change direction.

And so it goes. We are in a period of blurred vision, waiting for clarity. We’ll see (pun intended).

In the meantime I’m reminded of my Grandmother’s old saying many years ago when I was a young man – “Give them enough rope and they’ll hang themselves.” That works for me. Spring is in the air and I’m thinking about going fishing.

________________________________________________

Reference: February 16, 2017 Remarks by President Trump in Press Conference