We must notice when Congress adjourns

Thursday, August 28, 2008 9:04 PM CDT

In case you didn’t notice, Congress is now in recess. You probably didn’t notice because Congress hasn’t done much this year, or last, and your life isn’t any better for it. It is a point to keep in mind as our representatives in Washington beg for re-election, but the point does not lie in counts of bills or accusations of blame. Both parties are to blame for what isn’t happening.

In early 2006, the Democrats, then the minority party, published long lists of what Republicans hadn’t accomplished while they were in control of Congress. In almost two years on the job, this Congress has so far passed 294 public laws, fewer than any other Congress, the record-keepers tell us. By the time it left Washington earlier this month, it had also failed to pass any of the appropriations bills which fund the federal government.

What it did do was pass about 2,000 resolutions. Among them were acts recognizing soil as an essential resource, recognizing the anniversary of the Idaho Potato Commission, establishing July 28 as the Day of the American Cowboy, and declaring July to be National Watermelon Month.

All legislative bodies indulge in a certain amount of this. The end papers in Wisconsin’s Blue Book — the guide to state government — are decorated with images of the state dog (American water spaniel), state domestic animal (dairy cow), state dance (polka), state beverage (milk), state soil (Antigo silt loam), and many others.

A basic count of bills passed does not equal quality of government, however, because a few important bills are worth hundreds of lesser ones. Among the fluffy resolutions in this Congress, for example, was the serious joint resolution approving the Great Lakes Compact.

Another view is that the inaction of Congress reflects the undecided nature of the citizenry. We cannot make up our minds on many issues, and our elected representatives cannot act on an absent will.

However, members of Congress have a dual role: They represent, but they also lead. They exist to voice a collective opinion, yet they also have access to information which most citizens do not and they have the time and duty to get ahead of issues before they become problems, and to formulate policies and forge compromises. This is where the present Congress has failed.

Congress may be as deeply divided, as indecisive, may hold as many entrenched viewpoints as any other group of people, but it is up to members to move past that. Even if first laws don’t work, they are at least a start and can be adjusted later. Waiting for the next election to solve a deadlock is no solution at all, and one may suggest that people interested in waiting for that can best do so out of office.

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