MOCK Remote Hearing and Markup Tests Viability of a Virtual Congress
On March 24, 2020, a mock remote hearing and markup was held via Zoom “to assess the viability of remote hearings in emergency situations when committees cannot physically convene.”
I co-organized this event with lorelei kelly of the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown and Daniel Schuman of Demand Progress. We were very fortunate to have former Rep. Bob Inglis [R, SC] and the former House Parliamentarian, Charles W. Johnson III as participants. The role-playing hearing and markup session was expertly“chaired” by former Rep. Brian Baird [D, WA]. We were joined by current and former staffers, political scientists, and experts who work on Congressional reform.
The main goal of the session was to simulate the actions that lawmakers take in committee and kick the tires of available technology (in this case, Zoom) to identify issues and potential hurdles. And we found many! Participants shared insights and suggestions, which we are compiling and will share very soon.
So why did *we* do this? As I explained on Twitter:
The universal conclusion of those participating was that it was a valuable exercise and that we should do it again. (We will!) The observations of participants will be compiled into a report and shared publicly and with members of Congress. Stay tuned!
Special thanks to all who participated, especially our committee “members” and “staffers”:
Chairman: Brian Baird
Co-chairman: Bob Inglis
Committee Member: Michael Thorning
Committee Member: Claire Abernathy
Committee Member: Petrina Thomas
Committee Member: Kevin Esterling
Committee Member: Elizabeth Yoder
Committee Member: Alfred Forman
Witness: Lorelei Kelly
Committee Clerk: Daniel Schuman
Committee Staffer: Chioma Chukwu
Committee Staffer: Leah Brewer
Committee Staffer: Susanne Grooms
Committee Staffer: Ethan McClelland
Member Staffer: Ananda Bhatia
Member Staffer: Brittany Lynch
Marci Harris is co-founder and CEO of POPVOX, an online platform for legislative information and civic engagement, and a former Congressional staffer. She serves on the board of the People-Centered Internet.
