New Speaker. Same House?

Last week, the House elected a new Speaker, Paul Ryan, someone I’ve worked with on the Budget and Ways & Means Committees, and on the House floor to make federal policy more thoughtful and accountable.

He inherits this new position at a time of widespread dissatisfaction — shared by Members and constituents alike on both sides of the aisle — on the failure of the House to function and do its job to problem solve and actually legislate, to the detriment of this body and our country.

As I sat on the House floor and listened to his first speech as Speaker, I wondered how he would “turn the page,” as he said. Would he break with recent leadership that was all too focused on controlling the agenda and dealing with broader messaging, to really allow the House to work its will and solve problems?

When Speaker Ryan said he was committed to restoring us to a “fully functioning House,” I found myself reflecting on an event I attended the night before as an honoree, and how the themes discussed there could serve as a model for what Ryan said he intends to do — make the House work for the American people.

Ever since coming to Congress, I’ve shied away from political theatrics and grandstanding. Instead, I’ve focused on finding areas of overlapping interest, working with those who can find some agreement and share a willingness to get things done. That means working with anyone, regardless of party, who is interested in coaxing more value out of the federal partnership with state and local governments.

Since I came to Congress, I’ve partnered with an organization called Taxpayers for Common Sense (Taxpayers). They have worked hard to build bipartisan relationships for simple, common sense ways not just to save tax dollars, but to provide better outcomes in terms of government efficiency and environmental protection.

Last week, I, along with my colleague Representative Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), was honored to receive the organization’s “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” award for our partnership in fighting government waste.

With the vast sweep of the federal government, this great nation’s political process too often caters to the powerful, wealthy, and well-connected. While we don’t agree on everything, Taxpayers and their allies have been fighting the good fight for causes that seldom get the recognition they merit.

Together, we’ve fought wasteful agricultural subsidies that enrich big agribusiness at the expense of local family farmers. We pushed to end wasteful defense programs and stop the United States from committing over $1 trillion in the coming years to completely rebuild nuclear weapons we can’t use and can’t afford. We worked to implement the Green Scissors report, showing ways to strengthen the environment and local communities, and save money and resources at the same time. Some of these seem arcane and certainly aren’t the sexiest issues, like our decades-long fight for flood insurance reform. Arcane, until circumstances like Hurricane Katrina, or events related to global climate change, spotlight the problems and underscore how little we look at the big picture, legislate for prevention, and ensure policies simultaneously improve quality and cost effectiveness.

While Taxpayers’ mantra is about the ability to do more with less, we share the important principle of not letting our differences divide us, but instead allowing our desire to get things done build new and often unusual alliances. Of late, we’ve seen the exact opposite guide in the House and the result has been gridlock, distrust, and an entire segment of Congress who have not had the opportunity to work across the aisle like I have. It’s my hope that Speaker Ryan restores that trust and enables the Coalitions of Strange Bedfellows to prevail, much like the one I celebrated last week — a bleeding-heart progressive from Portlandia, a die-hard conservative from South Carolina, and an organization committed to ending government waste, putting aside our differences to make progress on areas we can all agree on.

Congress has been paralyzed by the Freedom Caucus. Speaker Ryan has a real chance to empower a “Legislators Caucus.” We can come together, develop an agenda of second- and third-tier issues that need more legislative attention and floor action. This would solve real world problems while helping Congress heal itself.