I’ve heard that necessity is the mother of invention, but I’ve always believed that laziness is the mother of efficiency. When things are running smoothly and efficiently, there’s more time to lie around and do nothing. As a result, I am a huge fan of efficiency.
So when I read this week that the incoming Republican leaders in the House of Representatives have decided to do away with official recognitions of Congress, my first thought was, “That sounds OK. More efficiency, and more time to work on other stuff.”
If you aren’t familiar with these recognitions, they are the official resolutions by Congress to honor the work of their constituents. Some recipients get a lovely leather-bound certificate, and some causes get a week or a month named after them. For example, Congress declared that May is now Filipino American History Month.
Some of them are pretty weird, such as National Pi Day, recognition of the 2560th birthday of Confucius, or one supporting the goals and ideals of National Engineers Week (sorry, I didn’t get you a card). About a third of the more than 2,100 bills considered in the House this year involved congratulatory resolutions, post office naming or other honors.
Is it just a waste of time and resources? Some of these recognitions are. Should Congress ever recognize or bestow honor on its citizens? House Republicans don’t think so. This nearly 200-year old tradition is coming to an end this year, now that the incoming party-in-charge has decided that these are wasteful.
OK, but what about the good ones? How about the recognition of the Penn State women’s volleyball team for their championship? How about the recognition of the Buffalo Soldiers, who were some of the first caretakers of our national parks, before park rangers were ever created? They’re also credited with creating the iconic ranger hat as seen on Smokey the Bear. Even Mother’s Day was born from one of these resolutions.
The next House majority leader Eric Cantor doesn’t cite those, however. He states, “I do not suspect that Jefferson or Madison ever envisioned Congress honoring the 2,560th anniversary of the birth of Confucius or supporting the designation of National Pi Day. I believe people want our time, energy and efforts focused on their priorities.”
So just what are these priorities? Well, 92 percent of Americans would like to see full disclosure of all campaign contributions. The House passed a bill requiring disclosure, but gave exemptions for large lobbying groups such as the National Rifle Association and the Sierra Club. Senate Republicans killed the bill, partly for political reasons, and partly because it’s a huge tangled mess of regulations.
If Congress is serious about improving their efficiency, there are two places they could start that would save thousands of unproductive hours.
Cut down on meetings
A typical day in a representative’s life includes policy meetings, staff meetings, caucus meetings, sub-committee oversight hearings, meetings with delegations, meetings with state officials, meetings with constituents, meetings with foreign dignitaries, giving Capitol tours to visiting constituents, strategy sessions, receptions and media interviews. That’s just one day.
See a common theme here? Go online and read a few of these sub-committee transcripts when you can’t fall asleep; you’ll be amazed at how wasteful much of the testimony is. How about a commitment to cut down on meetings?
Stop attaching bills
A common tactic among legislators is to attach an unpopular amendment to a defense spending bill in order to gain votes, and make it look like the other party “doesn’t support our troops.” The infamous Bridge to Nowhere was attached to an appropriations bill, and many hours were devoted to cutting that loose.
Clogging up the system with amendments is part of the rules created by Congress; it’s not in the Constitution. They could change those rules at any time, and only vote on the merits of a single bill.
We have the same type of recognitions locally, in our city council meetings. Mostly they are for community heroes and students who win a competition, and I’m sure they like having a day named after them. There’s very little chance that we’ll ever have a Ryan Ryals Day, but I’m keeping the banners in the garage just in case.
Are these recognitions a waste of time, too? I don’t think so. Even if they were, they only take up about five minutes at most. There are plenty of windbags on city councils who can fill up an hour with inane questions because they neglected to prepare for the meeting. I have to believe that the same problem exists at the federal level. Same inefficiency issues, different windbags.
These official recognitions from Congress make people happy, and are probably the highlights of their lives. We all crave recognition from our peers, and from those in power. Leave them alone, will you Eric?
