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Al Swift's Commentary:
Congressional Reform: A Modest Proposal
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Another proposal to reform Congress surfaced the other day. As usual, it was a bit misguided if not superfluous. But, if we are going to keep trying to reform Congress, why don’t we propose some things that might actually improve the institution? I have some modest proposals.
Do Not Allow Members of Congress to Answer Their Mail.
This would trigger a major reduction in Hill staff and permit the remainder to re-focus on issue research and legislation. Members should read their mail, but put their position on all the issues on their web sites.
Members May Not Go to Their Districts More than Once a Month.
This will end the yo-yo existence of Members who are constantly rushing to and from airports in a vain effort to convince their constituents that they are not out of touch. It would permit them a more normal life (in fact, more like their constituents) and, perhaps, allow their children to recognize them when they come home.
Now, every new idea needs a little work. This suggestion will work fine for Congressmen who live a long way away. I, for example, was from the West Coast. It does pose a problem, however, for those living nearby. For example, if Steny Hoyer and Tom Davis can’t go home at night, where do they sleep? This will require some more work but the concept is sound.
Members May Make Fund Raising Calls Only on Fridays Between 1 and 5 PM.
This has two purposes. One is to reduce the enormous amount of time Members spend raising money. The other purpose is to permit lobbyists to leave for Friday afternoon golf games by noon. Less fund raising, less lobbyists in town: a doubly sterling idea.
Members Must Dine at Least Once a Week With a Member of The Opposite Party.
Since Members will no longer have to dash for the airport every Thursday afternoon, they just might take time to get to know each other as people instead of just adversaries from “the other side of the aisle.” That is how is used to be. Before the airplane made it so easy (read: mandatory) to get back to the district, Members stayed in Washington more and – as a consequence – socialized more. Fond friendships grew across the aisle. It made the place a lot more civil. It is hard to question the motives of a person you have come to know, like and respect. And where better to get to know someone than over a dry martini and a good steak (or whatever.)
Members Must Take at Least One Official Foreign Trip Every Year.
Now, I’d put some requirements on these. The trips would have to be sponsored by a Committee on which the Member sits. It would have to be bi-partisan. While the press loves to call these junkets and some members abuse them, many of the most valuable things I ever learned to help me serve in Congress I discovered abroad. I took one trip a term. Too few. One a year is a minimum.
Members Would Be Required to Take a Two-Week Vacation with
Their Families Every Year and Must Take the Kids.
I guarantee the divorce rate in Congress will go down.
Members Must Getaway with Their Spouses for Two Weekends Each Year – without The Kids.
Ditto
The Only Members Who Get a Pay Raise Are Those Who Vote For It.
I never voted against a pay raise. I’d always tell my folks back home that the job was clearly worth the salary. It was their job to elect people to fill it who were worth the salary. But it used to gripe me a bit that all the ones who voted against a pay raise, went right ahead and took it. If you don’t think you’re worth it or are too scared to vote for it, don’t take it.
That’s all I’ve got right now. The chance of any of these ideas being adopted in the lifetime of the sun is not great. But, if they were, they’d do more to improve Congress than most of what the professional reformers have been flogging for years
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