Shawn Vance

Political Science 2301

Dr. Rebeccaa Glazier

Congress is a Dysfunctional Institution

Our founding fathers created 3 branches of government consisting of the Judiciary, the
Executive and, the Legislative. The Legislative branch consists of The Senate and The House of
Representatives. When it was conceived, it was to be a slow moving body that produced laws
governing our United States. This slow moving body was to take time in drafting bills and come
up with solutions for our country that were carefully thought out and contained ways for those of
differing political views to come to a consensus on American policies. This institution has gone
through numerous changes is the way in conducts its business. Where once Senators and House
members took to the floor of there respective branch to hammer out bills and laws in front of
every other member of the House or Senate, most law making has now been relegated to
committees and subcommittees. Most congresspeople dont even know the nuances of what is in
a bill nowadays. As Nancy Pelosi said about the Affordable Care Act, We have to pass the bill so
that you can find out what is in it. 1 Another example is the SAFE Port Act of 2006. This bill
came about because a foreign company from the middle east based out of Dubai, was in the
process of buying P & O ports. The issue was the safety of american ports owned by P & O, if
they changed hands to a middle eastern country. A bill was enacted, but another bill was added at
the last moment called the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. This act was to limit

11 Nancy Pelosi August 12, 2014, Wikiquote, http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nancy_Pelosi

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the transfer of monies on the internet deemed to be used for gambling. The UIGEA was hastily
created, and it left it up to banks, instead of the government to determine what is unlawful
gambling. The question must arise, Why is an anti-gambling bill being attached to a Port
Security Bill. The answer, is that the UIGEA would have never have passed unless it was
attached to another bill because many congresspeople were against it. But if a congressperson
did not vote in favor of the bill, they would be seen as anti-security in the eyes of the public. This
is another way congress is seen as dysfunctional.
Lobbying in america has been around since before we had our constitution. James Madison
wrote newspaper editorials urging americans at the time to support the proposed constitution.
These editorials were later collated and became The Federalist Papers. These editorials could be
considered by some to be outside lobbying.2 It could be said that because of Mr. Madisons
lobbying efforts, our United States Constitution was ratified. But the times have changed, and the
american people now believe that the reason Congress is so dysfunctional is the belief that
congress is backed by lobbyists and donors with money to give. K Street in Washington DC is
known as the home of the lobbyists. Some of the newest and nicest buildings in the Washington
DC metropolitan area are found on this street. In 2013, two and a half billion dollars were spent
on lobbying efforts3, and over 12,000 lobbyists have actively lobbied during this time frame.
With so many lobbyists and so much money flowing into lobbying efforts, it would be hard for
one to argue that Congress is not influenced by these efforts.

22 Ronald J. Hrebenar, Bryson B. Morgan, Lobbying in America (California: ABC-CLIO, 2009).

33 "Lobbying Database - OpenSecrets". OpenSecrets.org. Retrieved Nov-8-2014.
2

In George Washingtons Farewell Address, our first president near the end of his second term
tried to sway the american people away from political parties.4 He argued that political parties
would promote the interest of one group over another group. He also warns of the danger of
parties that seek to take political revenge on other parties at the detriment to the nation as a
whole. He was not successful in his attempt to ward off political parties, Thomas Jefferson
himself created the Democratic-Republican party in 1791. Washington realized that parties could
be beneficial, but he warned of their ability to distract the government from doing its job. If
George Washington was able to see the state of our government in America today, he would most
likely be shocked at what the two party system has done to his beloved country. The two party
system has divide our country into what seems is the biggest divide it has ever seen. The 112th
and the 113th congress currently in session now, could be said to be two of the most divisive in
history. During this time the Democratic party held the Senate and the Republican party held the
House of Representatives. During this four year period from 2011 until the end of this year, there
has been more political fighting between the parties that has resulted in the american people
giving the lowest approval ratings ever to this congressional body.5 The last major piece of
legislation to come out of the house and senate happened in 2009. That bill was the Affordable
Care Act, also known as Obamacare. It was passed when the Democratic party held both the
House and the Senate as well as the Presidency, and it was passed with no Republican party
member voting for it. For the last 4 years, that act has come under attack by the Republican party
and the they have said that in the new 114th congress, when the republicans will hold both the
44 George Washington to the American People, September 19, 1796.
5 Congress and the Public" retrieved November 11, 2014, Gallup,
http://www.gallup.com/poll/1600/congress-public.aspx
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House and Senate, that they will try and do everything they can to repeal the whole thing or
remove parts of the bill that many americans do not like. This whole scenario is the result of a
dysfunctional congress caused by a two party system, where neither party is willing to work with
the other in order to find a compromise. Exactly what George Washington was worried about.
Representative John Dingle has served in the House of Representatives for more than 58 years.
He took over the seat filled by his father in 1955. One could not imagine our founding fathers
expecting this to happen. When the founding fathers envisioned the House and Senate, they
wanted the house to be two year terms and the senate to be six year terms. The reason for this
was to get more influence from the people in the house, and a more stable body in the senate.
The founding fathers envisioned these house and senate members to be common people that
come from all walks of life, and when their congressional time was done to go back and continue
working in the community they came from. They never envisioned a professional politician.
When a Senator or House member is in the congress for a long amount of time, it could be said
that they will have very little connection to their constituents back in their home district. When a
congressperson spends so much time campaigning for re-election it definitely takes away time
from when they are supposed to be creating laws. Anthony Gay wrote in a journal that term
limits in congress would be detrimental to minorities because it would limit the seniority power
from long serving congresspeople.6 This thinking is wrong as there are more and more minorities
serving in congress then ever before. The reason there are more is because the american public
does not see the race issue as such a decisive factor in who they vote for as compared to 20 years
age. By limiting the term limits we would increase the power of minorities, because there would

6 Anthony Gay, Congressional Term Limits: Good Government or Minority Vote Dilution?
University of Pennsylvania Law Review Vol. 141, no. 6 (1993): 2311-369.
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be more turn over in congress, and more people would therefore have a chance to serve their
communities as our founding fathers envisioned.
The solution to these problems is to slowly change the rules and regulations in congress. A
congressional committee should be set up much like Ezra Klein describes,7 he advocates a
committee that creates rules and regulations that wouldn't take effect for several years. This
would let a bi-partisan committee come up with rules. The first thing that should be addressed is
the attaching of bill on top of other bills. This should never happen as it lets unpopular bills slide
by on the backs of popular bills. The next thing to address is to come up with new rules against
lobbying. Lobbying should not be banned, but it should be severely limited when then lobbying
is being done by a professional lobbying firm. The third and probably most controversial thing to
do would be to remove the titles of what party political candidates are from. If americans did not
know what party a candidate was from they would be more likely to listen to the solutions these
candidates provide, instead of dismissing a candidate the minute they here what political party he
or she is from. The last and most important thing is limiting the number of terms congresspeople
can serve. America needs real working americans in congress, not career politicians who do
nothing except for themselves.

Annotated Bibliography

7 Ezra Klein, What Happens When Congress Fails to Do Its Job?, in Taking Sides, ed. George
McKenna, Stanley Feingold (New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2013), 110-115.
5

Washington, George. George Washington to The American People, September 19, 1796.
This letter provided insight into how our first president felt as he was leaving office. In it
he talks of his fear of political parties, his belief in the new US constitution and his belief
in the unity of the new American Republic.
I remember this letter form a history course i took a few years ago, and i remember him
talking about political parties in it. This is why i went back to find it and use it again.

"Wikiquote, Nancy Pelosi" August 12, 2014. Wikiquote

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nancy_Pelosi.
I used this site to get the exact quote from Nancy Pelosi.
I remember her stating this while watching the news and I was flabbergasted. This is one of
the reasons I believe congress is dysfunctional, how are our leaders to vote on something
they have never read?

"Lobbying Database - OpenSecrets". OpenSecrets.org. Retrieved 2010-10-29.

Site that keeps track of all monies spent for lobbying and registered lobbyists.
Used to find lobbying money and number of lobbyists.

Ronald J. Hrebenar, Bryson B. Morgan, Lobbying in America (California: ABC-CLIO, 2009).

This tells the history of lobbying in america, from where it started to where it is today.

I found this trying to google what Madison thought about lobbying. Only read first
chapter, but was very surprised when I found out that Madison is thought to be the first
american lobbyist.

Congress and the Public" retrieved November 11, 2014, Gallup,

http://www.gallup.com/poll/1600/congress-public.aspx
Gallup Poll site showing the polls of american satisfaction with congress.

Gay, Anthony. "Congressional Term Limits: Good Government or Minority Vote Dilution?"
University of Pennsylvania Law Review 141, no. 6 (1993): 2311-369. Accessed November 8,
2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3312496.
Journal entry stating why congress should not have term limits. The main thing against term
limits in this article is his belief that it would dilute minorities in american politics.
Found this while searching JSTOR for articles about term limits. I disagree with his overall
premise because I think america has come far past the race barrier it used to have.

Klein, Ezra. What Happens When Congress Fails to Do Its Job?. in Taking Sides, edited by
George McKenna and Stanley Feingold, 110-115. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2013.
Text book from class describing many different political issues on a pro and con basis.