If you’ve been wondering just how productive the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has been – or your spouse says you’ve been chanting Do-Nothing Democrats! in your sleep – here’s a data point for you, midway through the 116th Congress (which are two year terms, anchored to the House elections), courtesy House Majority Leader Rep Steny Hoyer (D-MD):
The Democratic-led House has passed more than 400 bills. Over 275 bipartisan bills remain stuck on Senator Mitch McConnell’s desk, awaiting action by the Senate, which has refused to do its job.
In the same spirit of critique as when I criticized former Speaker Ryan (R-WI) for proclaiming the House under his leadership had been the most productive ever, I note that a mere count does not give us information on the significance or quality of the bills passed, and I have little to go on when it comes to his definition of bipartisan. Is just one Republican vote sufficient? Or most of the Republicans? I’d hope the latter.
Fortunately, Rep Hoyer does provide information on some significant bills:
H.R. 1: … is landmark legislation which would, among other things, enact comprehensive national redistricting reform, reduce the corrupting influence of money in our politics, and set higher standards of ethics and behavior for those entrusted with high office.
Protected Wilderness: … that designated more than a million acres of protected wilderness, expanded the footprint of national parks, and permanently reauthorized the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Disaster aid: … we provided additional supplemental aid to areas affected by natural disasters. Our legislation also amended the Stafford Act to ensure that those rebuilding in the aftermath of a disaster can do so more resiliently and prevent future damage.
9/11: We reauthorized the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund in July to help first responders and others suffering from the health consequences of their heroism on September 11, 2001.
Retirement: … SECURE Act to help more workers save for a secure retirement and fix a provision included in the Republican tax scam that excessively taxes Gold Star families who lost loved ones in war. The SECURE Act had previously passed the House with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 417-3, only to languish in the Senate for months without action.
NAFTA 2.0 aka USMCA: … the House approved legislation to implement a new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement that includes Democratic provisions to protect workers’ rights, promote American exports, and attract job-creating investment to our country, which the Senate is expected to take up next year.
China: … the House recently joined the Senate in sanctioning China for its human rights violations in Hong Kong and effort to suppress dissent through violence.
Robocalls: … House Democrats passed bipartisan legislation to crack down on bothersome and intrusive robocalls, which passed the Senate yesterday.
Health Care: Earlier in 2019, House Democrats passed ten major bills to protect and expand access to affordable health care and to lower prescription drug costs. This includes H.R. 3.
Women’s pay: … the House passed H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act, which builds on the 2009 Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to ensure that women earn equal pay for equal work.
And it goes on and on, actually. H.R. bills 4, 6, 8, 9 are also mentioned as being passed, which is significant as the first 10 H.R. bill numbers are reserved for those issues considered to be high priority by the majority party in the House. They should be considered significant. And, rather to my surprise, a bill that was not mentioned is the FAIR Act, which would begin to outlaw forced arbitration clauses, or, as I think of them, private justice. This is highly significant as injustice is one of the most dangerously corrosive attacks on a democracy, and these forced arbitration clauses, which foreclose any appeals to the public justice system, you know, with professional and accountable judges, as a definite step down the rabbit hole to angry citizen hell.
So if you think the Democrats have been sitting on their hands doing nothing, think again. A political slogan isn’t reality. In fact, a political slogan from either side of the spectrum should be treated to skepticism until proven true.
