Upgrading Congress to Serve Constituents and Get Results

Our nation’s economy and the stability of our society depend on a functional and efficient government to address our country’s most fundamental challenges. Congress has long been viewed as unnecessarily inefficient, and significant changes are needed to reform how the legislative body operates. At Business for America, we believe that best practices from the private sector could inform ways the House and Senate can improve how they collaborate on governing, support over-stretched staff, and serve their constituents.

In February, Business for America gathered experts who’ve been working on the effort to modernize Congress both inside and outside the Capitol. In 2018, six Democrat and six Republican representatives formed the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. Over the past four years, the committee worked in a remarkably bipartisan fashion to develop a set of over 200 recommendations, many of which have already been adopted. That said, critical reforms have not yet been addressed to ensure that we have a legislative body that reflects the innovation, collaboration, and preparedness that is required in the business world today.

“The select committee’s work is proof that meaningful bipartisan progress in DC is possible, despite today’s highly partisan politics,” said BFA CEO Sarah Bonk. “By showing our support, the business community can play an important role in advancing the committee’s common-sense solutions that will help Congress work better for every American.”

Congressional Management Foundation CEO Brad Fitch said, “I’ve been in Washington now for 37 years and I can say with great affirmation that the last four years in my work with the modernization committee has been the most amazing and rewarding work that I’ve done as an institutionalist in the Congress.” However, Fitch noted that there is still much to be done. He urged the House to continue the committee’s outstanding work and act as an accountability agent for the implementation of the remaining recommendations. “We need the people from the business community telling the Congress that it can improve by showing them a way.”

Panelist Betsy Wright Hawkins spent several decades working on Capitol Hill including as a House office chief of staff, and served as a senior fellow on the select committee. Framed by her experience she stated, “A more functional Congress that operates in a civil way is really critical to address long-term structural problems in our economy and society. You have to create a market for the change that you seek… Change the incentives by rewarding members of Congress for working on and supporting the institution. The business community can help expand that market going forward.”

Jayben Castro, the deputy director for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion in the U.S House of Representatives added, “We are helping Congress look more like America… In Congress you have 541 ‘small businesses’ that run autonomously… So how does this momentum in Congress spread to individual congressional offices to adopt these recommendations?”

On the topic of talent, Travis Moore, founder of TechCongress, agreed that attracting and retaining talent is a big challenge for congressional offices. “We are attempting to solve for a brain drain and congress’s inability to retain the talent that represents the lived experience of America, and that includes specific areas of expertise.”

TechCongress gives talented technologists the opportunity to gain first-hand experience working in Congress and learning about federal policy making. Moore added, “We need more mechanisms that bring in outside expertise. Other levels of government have figured this out, such as in the Department of Defense where we have a business board that consults on best practices that could be brought inside the department. There’s no reason we can’t have a Congressional Innovation Board or some type of entity that works with the business community to bring in outside experts to support congressional modernization.”

All panelists agreed that business can play a pivotal role in providing expertise, best practices, and motivational support in adopting many of the remaining reforms suggested by the subcommittee. Business for America will be launching a campaign to mobilize the business community behind seven radically simple recommendations to help members of Congress and their staff be more effective.

Brad Fitch concluded, “The importance of Business for America coming into the modernization movement is so important because of their voice, background, and credibility in getting things done, which is a great example for the United States Congress.”

To learn more and get involved visit bfa.us.