This Is How Congress Should Work

Congress was intended to house the critical debates of our time. But all too often today, Congress fails to follow the processes that encourage an exchange of ideas and the building of trust between parties.

But every now and then, process wins out, and Congress works the way it should. That was the case for an amendment Congressman Gallagher proposed just last week, and he documented it every step of the way.

Step 1: The Idea

It started earlier this month when Congressman Gallagher was reading through an upcoming appropriations bill. He saw that it contained a provision he strongly disagreed with, so as he discussed in the video below, he proposed an amendment to push back.

Step 2: The Proposal

Now, when you propose an amendment, it doesn’t automatically qualify for a vote. It has to be ruled germane by the House Rules Committee. So he took his case straight to them and testified before the committee on June 11.

All too often, though, the Rules Committee is where legislation goes to die. As he discussed after his testimony, this committee is dominated by House leadership, and often declares controversial amendments like Congressman Gallagher’s to be “out of order” to protect Members from debating and voting on tough issues.

Step 3: The Debate

But the committee ruled that his amendment could be debated on the House Floor and ultimately receive a vote. So Congressman Gallagher made his case to his colleagues, which you can watch below.

Step 4: The Vote

Congressman Gallagher's amendment gained 13 additional Democratic votes. It wasn’t enough to pass the House, but as he discussed below, he's glad that Congress demonstrated bipartisan support for his amendment and had a lively debate in the process.

Conclusion

As you can see, the process of proposing an amendment, and our legislative process in general, is overly complicated. But every now and then, the process does work. And despite the outcome, we can all be pleased that even for a brief moment, Congress functioned the way it was supposed to.