James Madison's Montpelier We The People Spring 2018 WTP_Spring_2018_FINAL_web | Page 19

SPRING 2018
Congressman Will Hurd (R-TX) in
Washington, D.C.
IS IT WORKING? WILL IT LAST?
Broadly speaking, many contend that Americans today want the same
things from our government as the framers of the Constitution. We
don’t want our leaders making decisions based on the whims of the
mob. We want to have the privacy versus security debate (though our
founders could have never anticipated our digital age). And we want a
strong Congress to ensure the smooth operation of the country and to
make sure the other branches are adequately checked and balanced. How sustainable is our current
governmental system?
IS CONGRESS DOING WHAT IT’S SUPPOSED TO?
There are successes, but they are rarely publicized. “You never get stuff
on television with the title ‘Congress Worked!’ You know?” jokes Hurd.
Representative Brendan Boyle, D-PA, echoes the sentiment that “it’s
not as bad as it looks.” Boyle argues that “because primaries play an
outsized role in determining which candidates get elected, it creates a
powerful incentive to not compromise.” But lower profile legislation is
being efficiently passed.
Interestingly, the two Congressmen Montpelier recently interviewed
vary in their solutions to some of our current congressional hang-ups.
Hurd’s prescription is less systemic and puts more onus on the members
themselves to have a “back-and-forth exchange over long periods of
time and be thoughtful.”
One of the most hotly-
debated questions is how well
our government, created by a
document written over 230 years
ago, will withstand the test of
time. How will it stand up to
emerging challenges like privacy,
misinformation, and an emerging
cultural landscape?
“I’ve come to the conclusion
that way more unites us than
divides us,” says Hurd. “When we
actually have a dialogue on even
some of the more contentious
issues, you can find that there’s a
lot of room for common ground.”
Maybe there’s hope after all.
Boyle, in contrast, takes issue with the system itself, calling for
structural electoral reforms. “Gerrymandering has left us with hyper-
Democratic and hyper-Republican districts,” he explains. “We also need
to change the way we determine who nominees of the parties are, and
fundamental campaign finance reform.”
No system is without its problems. However, we should be encouraged
that both congressmen agree that there is more of a commitment to
bipartisan policy solutions than meets the eye.
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