Signposting the Senate System
During my tenure as Senator for the Freshman Class way back in oh-two/oh-three, I was told time and time again about the new constitution, by-laws and model of government for ASWC and its intended posture along the workings of the three federal branches of government. This was completed in 2004 with the introduction of the current oversight system, which allows the Prez to appoint justices--err, students--with the consent of the Senate.
Now it's my turn to make the Senate look not only more official, but also more efficient and less lackluster with the introduction of such features as cosponsors, formal introductions of bills and Dear Colleague letters. As a current employee of the US House of Representatives (stop me before I outwonk myself), I explain each of these legislative details to caller-constituents each day and am confident that each will improve the conduct of the people's business down in G-02.
Some brief remarks about each:
Formal Bills will allow Senators to refer to particular concepts or issues with a proposed solution, which can be amended and tinkered with at the will of the body. A bill usually has an apt title (if not one that's clever or cliché), and the Senator who introduces a bill is said to be the sponsor of the bill. The formal introduction and naming of bills allows both the Senators and the Whitman public to easily track the progress of a resolution through the ASWC system, from committee to Senate to House, instead of simply referring to something as 'the Mandel bill', as some Senators introduce more resolutions than others.
Cosponsors are Senators from whichever class or committee that generally agree with an introduced bill and usually are jealous that they didn't think of it first and are actually hunting for some slice of credit. Cosponsors, however, are essential for adding pressure for the body to consider the bill and can indicate a united front of Senators. For example, the Senior class could have one Senator introduce a resolution about eliminating all department thesis requirements (shudder to think) and the remaining three Senior Senators could cosponsor the bill showing support across a delegation. It also looks good for accountability to constituents that Senators are actually performing well in their capacity as public stewards.
Dear Colleague letters often occur in the case where a bill may not be essential to the resolution of an issue, but the issue at hand warrants the attention of multiple Senators. A particularly recent case is the US House Democrats' letter to President Bush urging the supplemental funding of the VA, as House Republicans have missed many opportunities to provide over $2.5 billion in appropriations to the needy department. In ASWC life, a Dear Colleague letter could be something like this (as in more funding for the always-needy KWCW), or it could be a bill in its infancy. Dear Colleague letters are also often used to indicate cosponsors of a bill.
All of this may be more work for the Communications Director, but I bet that the new choice for this position is all 'fro it.
Some may not be fond of mimicking the federal system (according to recent polls only 19% think Congress share their priorities), but I think the fault with the current Congress lies not in its method but rather the incessant partisan hackery. I hope that other Senators and the eventual choice for Ombud embrace these slight improvements to the current ASWC legislative system for an improvement in transparency and accountability and an end to the tendency to refer to resolutions as 'that one idea we were discussing last week'.
Now it's my turn to make the Senate look not only more official, but also more efficient and less lackluster with the introduction of such features as cosponsors, formal introductions of bills and Dear Colleague letters. As a current employee of the US House of Representatives (stop me before I outwonk myself), I explain each of these legislative details to caller-constituents each day and am confident that each will improve the conduct of the people's business down in G-02.
Some brief remarks about each:
Formal Bills will allow Senators to refer to particular concepts or issues with a proposed solution, which can be amended and tinkered with at the will of the body. A bill usually has an apt title (if not one that's clever or cliché), and the Senator who introduces a bill is said to be the sponsor of the bill. The formal introduction and naming of bills allows both the Senators and the Whitman public to easily track the progress of a resolution through the ASWC system, from committee to Senate to House, instead of simply referring to something as 'the Mandel bill', as some Senators introduce more resolutions than others.
Cosponsors are Senators from whichever class or committee that generally agree with an introduced bill and usually are jealous that they didn't think of it first and are actually hunting for some slice of credit. Cosponsors, however, are essential for adding pressure for the body to consider the bill and can indicate a united front of Senators. For example, the Senior class could have one Senator introduce a resolution about eliminating all department thesis requirements (shudder to think) and the remaining three Senior Senators could cosponsor the bill showing support across a delegation. It also looks good for accountability to constituents that Senators are actually performing well in their capacity as public stewards.
Dear Colleague letters often occur in the case where a bill may not be essential to the resolution of an issue, but the issue at hand warrants the attention of multiple Senators. A particularly recent case is the US House Democrats' letter to President Bush urging the supplemental funding of the VA, as House Republicans have missed many opportunities to provide over $2.5 billion in appropriations to the needy department. In ASWC life, a Dear Colleague letter could be something like this (as in more funding for the always-needy KWCW), or it could be a bill in its infancy. Dear Colleague letters are also often used to indicate cosponsors of a bill.
All of this may be more work for the Communications Director, but I bet that the new choice for this position is all 'fro it.
Some may not be fond of mimicking the federal system (according to recent polls only 19% think Congress share their priorities), but I think the fault with the current Congress lies not in its method but rather the incessant partisan hackery. I hope that other Senators and the eventual choice for Ombud embrace these slight improvements to the current ASWC legislative system for an improvement in transparency and accountability and an end to the tendency to refer to resolutions as 'that one idea we were discussing last week'.
posted by tom at
9:49 PM
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