The refrain that "Congress is broken" has been repeated so often in recent years that reporting the opposite would make for a much more controversial statement. It is a 'truth' that long ago lodged itself into the body of common knowledge, and is one that can now be invoked unquestioned. Yet this is a simplistic assessment and, like in any complex situation, the truth is much more nuanced. Americans don't get the full picture of Congress, nor do they often get to hear ideas for genuinely making the institution more effective.
Part of the Congressional Management Foundation's (CMF) mission is to explain how Congress really works, and offer ideas for improving the institution. CMF President & CEO Brad Fitch recently had the opportunity to discuss both of these topics when he was interviewed on the Steven Spierer Show. In their conversation, Fitch offered listeners a unique perspective regarding the challenges facing our elected officials. In doing so, he illuminated the notable gap between public perception and reality on how Congress operates.
Below are excerpts from the interview.
Media View of Congress:
"[Today] it's a little more up to the citizen to impose that level of accountability that sometimes used to be imposed by the media... The people getting the attention and invited on the shows are the 'show horses' of Congress and not the 'workhorses' of Congress. In terms of the members of Congress who appear on Meet the Press, only 11 percent of them got on the show in a given year. Well what are the other 89 percent doing? What motivates what is most of the Congress?"
Public's View of Congress:
"There was a poll done by Rasmussen a couple years ago, and asked if the American public would agree with this statement: 'Congress cares what their constituents think.' Only 18 percent of Americans would agree with that statement. Some people look at approval ratings and take it as an indicator that our democracy is ill. And I think when over four out of five Americans don't think the governing class is listening to the governed, we've got a serious problem. That really strikes at the heart of our democracy. I think that's the number that has got to turn around. And frankly Congress has got to do a better job in communicating to citizens, and that may be opening themselves up and making themselves available. A lot of them do a great job, but I think they could still do better."
What Really Influences Lawmakers:
"Democracy is on some levels is actually working how it's supposed to. And I'm not naïve [enough to think that Congress isn't] punting on a lot of the big issues and big challenges for a variety reasons. But when you ask members of Congress and staff who drives the decision making process, overwhelmingly they say constituents. We've done a survey in 2005, 2010, and 2015, and asked of 200 anonymous, senior Congressional staff, 'If your Member has not already arrived at a firm decision on an issue, how much influence might the following advocacy strategies directed to the Washington office have on his/her decision?' And we listed off various advocacy strategies. Three surveys. Three groups. And for all three groups of anonymous staffers, we got the same answers in the same order. And the number one answer in all three surveys in was between 94 and 97 percent of Congressional staff would say in-person visits from constituents."
Arranging a Meeting with Your Member:
"The most successful and most common way that people interact is usual through an organization they belong to, whether it's a trade association, a nonprofit that they support, or even a company... Most people don't know that members of Congress average 13 meetings a day. And that's an average day – a bad day can get up to 18 meetings. That is what they spend a lot of their time doing, interacting with constituents... So it's usually going in a group of 2 or 3 people. You can contact them and literally ask for a meeting, and shockingly, it's that easy."
Congress Works Harder than You Think:
"That is why their workweeks are ridiculous. We did a survey of members of the House of Representatives. The average workweek, I am not kidding you, the average workweek for the House of Representatives when we are in session is 70 hours a week. On recess, it is 59.5 hours a week. I know it is hard to believe."
The Logistical Strains of Holding Office:
"One of the things that has happened in the last 10 to 20 years, unfortunately, is that the capacity of the U.S. Congress to get access to independent information has been going down. If you look at the sheer number of people who work at Congressional Research Service or the General Accountability Office and there use to be an organization call the Office of Technology Assessment that worked for the United States Congress. They frankly have fewer resources available than they did 20 or 30 years ago. Congress is like everyone else, under pressure to cut budgets. In fact, the United States House of Representatives is the only government entity in the last 4 years that cut its budget by up to 20%. If you don't believe me look at the National Journal's study on this that came out last summer."
The full interview from the April 9, 2016 Steven Spierer Show can be found here. Fitch's podcast segment lasts from 11:50 to 48:00.