R Street Institute Unveils ‘Guide for a Modern Congress’ Website

There is a bit of a double meaning behind the title of this web site, HillFaith. It has two purposes: First is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with every congressional staffer possible, regardless of party, regardless of position.

Second, is to be an advocate for Hill staffers. This includes both individually through mentoring relationships and by highlighting the problems and challenges that make working on the Hill such a unique experience.

The first comes “naturally” because Jesus Christ is alive and He changed my life here on earth and in eternity. So of course I want to share the “Good News” of His life, death and resurrection, and to present facts and logic that illustrate why it is absolutely reasonable to do so.

I Worked on the Hill, Too

The second comes naturally as well because I spent four great years early in my career working on the House and then the Senate side. So I know what it’s like to be a Hill aide. I’ve covered Congress to one degree or another throughout my journalism career. That has greatly reinforced my admiration for Hill staffers.

Finally, if only I had been able to obtain a translating degree of understanding of ancient Greek, I could have finished my Ph.D. in political philosophy at the University of Dallas. It’s another story why I didn’t.

My point in bringing it up here is that in my studies, I came to have a profound respect for the fact the Founders made Congress the “first branch” of American government.

Congress, not the presidency and not the Supreme Court, is the beating heart of American government. So helping Congress do its work more effectively in service to the people of America is one of my enduring passions.

Congress is the First Branch for a Reason

And that brings us to the new web site created by the R Street Institute, “The Guide to a Modern Congress,” which you will find here. Be sure and bookmark it because it could be very useful and important to your public service career.

R Street’s purpose with this new site is to help advance the work of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, co-chaired in the 117th Congress by Representatives Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and William Timmons (R-SC). Former Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) was the GOP c0-chairman in the 116th Congress.

In its first Congress, the select committee issued a voluminous report full of recommendations for improvements in the day-to-day operations of Congress. These recommendations are all available for study and analysis on the R Street site. The site is packed with additional helpful resources, too.

R Street’s Jonathan Bydlak explains the reasons for the new site, pointing to the terribly low public approval ratings for Congress in recent decades and the body’s history of reforming itself to keep pace with the demands on it from a growing population and more complex world.

“Our First Branch of government shouldn’t be content with basement-level approval ratings, high staff turnover and legislative gridlock. There’s plenty of blame to go around for the abysmal conditions in Congress, but it often comes back to one fundamental problem: legislative branch resources—funding, technology, support systems, processes—have not kept pace with legislative responsibilities and the public’s expectations,” said Bydlak, who is Director of R Street’s Governance Program.

“We hope Guide for a Modern Congress will be a useful tool for all those committed to restoring the building-blocks of governance and increasing civility,” he added.

I am confident this site will indeed be such a tool and I commend it to everybody who works on the Hill or who cares about those who do, and that ought to be every American who wants to see this nation grow and prosper spiritually, materially and politically.

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