My Time With Rep. Cardin Alexander S. Peak 18 October 2006 MY QUESTION Benjamin Cardin, a Democrat curretly serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, is running for the U.S. Senate. And, he has a good chance of winning, since Maryland is fairly dominated by Democrats. On Tuesday, Rep. Cardin came to give a campaign speech to Towson University. This event was hosted by the Towson University College Democrats. His speech focused mostly on his supposedly being an anti-war candidate. After the speech, he allowed questions from the audience. And this is why I was there: to ask Rep. Cardin in person a question. There are so many questions I could have asked him. I could have asked him why he believes I should be forced into Social Security against my will. I could have asked him where in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution it gives him the power to give so many of our tax dollars to Israel, or any of our tax dollars to any nation whatsoever for that matter. I could have asked him why he voted for the unconstitutional USA PATRIOT Act and whether he regrets it. I could have asked him why, in his speech, he brought up his Republican opponent, Michael Steele, but never once brought up his Green/Libertarian/Populist opponent, Kevin Zeese. So many questions I could have asked, but only one I did. I asked him about the Read the Bills Act. The Read the Bills Act, proposed by DownsizeDC.org, Inc., is a non-partisan bill supported by liberals, conservatives, and libertarians alike. If you haven’t heard of this bill, I highly encourage you to check it out. I began my statement by pointing out that the American people are fed up with the culture of corruption in D.C. We want reform, and we want it now. One of the big problems we see are the members of Congress voting on bills they have not read. I went on to state that the Read the Bills Act can solve this problem, if enacted, and that all four political groups on our campus have officially endorsed the Read the Bills Act, including the Democrats (who were hosting his event), the Republicans, the Greens, and the Libertarians. I concluded by asking him to sponsor the Read the Bills Act. CARDIN’S RESPONSE Rep. Cardin’s response interested me. First, he openly acknowledged that he has voted for bills he had not read, which was fairly obvious since vitually everyone in the current houses of Congress have. Next, he listed a bunch of reasons for this type of reform, noting for example that members of Congress are often given bills to vote on without the proper time to digest them, and that the massive length on bills allows things to get slipped in which ought not be there. He seemed well-versed in the reasons for the Read the Bills Act. He went on to say that he’s advocated reforms for years, and that he “supports this legislation.” This is what interested me most about his response, since he hasn’t sponsored this legislation, as I and every other DC Downsizer knows. He took one or two other questions after mine, and then his event was officially over. Of course, since the media was there to cover the event, he stayed for what was probably another five to ten minutes to answer their questions. I stuck around, as did a few other students, to listen in on his answers for the media. Once this was over, I had my chance for a little one-on-one with the Congressman. He shook my hand and thanked me for coming out that day. I shook his hand and proceeded to respectfully ask him that, since he had said on stage that he “supports this legislation,” why is it he hasn’t sponsored it. After all, if it doesn’t get sponsored, it can never get passed. With a chuckle, he replied that he’s not exactly sure he’s read the Read the Bills Act yet, but he promised me he would. I thanked him; I didn't see anything else I could say at this point to ensure he would sponsor it. We were in the hall way at this point, so I let myself fall back and let the media get back to asking him questions. THE BENEFIT Was this whole act of mine to no avail? No, it served its purpose quite well. I’m not expecting the Congressman to sponsor this bill at this point. I’m hoping he does, I’d love it if he does, but I’m sure to be disappoited if I expect it at this point. My asking him this question in public served a positive end. First of all, if we want this bill to ever get passed, we’ve got to get Congress to feel they’re obligated to pass it. Everyone is for this bill, except for Congress, who fears it will give them more work—which of course it will. If we want this bill passed, we need to make Congress feel it’s being pushed from all angles. We want them to feel like they’re hearing about it everywhere they go. If our representatives are hearing about this reform on all their campaign stops, they will have to take notice. Secondly, it was benefitial to ask this question because it gave the members of the audience a chance to hear about it. And thirdly, it also let members of the media hear about it. If we want the media to start focusing on reforms such as the Read the Bills Act, we need them to feel like they’re hearing about it everywhere, as well. For only then will they consider it an actual story worth covering. ANALYSIS OF CARDIN’S RESPONSE Rep. Cardin’s response did come off, at least to me, as a bit disingenuous. But, I could certainly be wrong about that. I can’t accurately say if he’s read the Read the Bills Act or no, after all. Perhaps he actually hasn’t. But he was certainly aware of it. For one thing, he stated the name of the bill accurately. But this isn’t the best piece of evidence I have to back up my claim, since I’d mentioned the name of the bill to him less than a minute before he addressed it by name. Second, given his response on stage, he seemed well-versed in the arguments in favour of this reform, as I mentioned previously. This shouldn’t be surprising. DownsizeDC.org gives members the means by which to contact their respective representatives about key issues, including the Read the Bills Act. Undoubtedly, Mr. Cardin has received a litany of emails about this proposed bill, and the arguments in favour of it. Third, when I first mentioned the Read the Bills Act from the audience, he began nodding as though he were familiar with the bill and its aim. Fourth, every member of Congress, Rep. Cardin included, was faxed a copy of the Read the Bills Act back in 2005. The bill is not long, only about two pages in length. CONCLUSION Over all, I’m happy I had the opportunity to ask Rep. Cardin about the RTBA. Although I have my doubts that it did any good in the short-run, it helped move us in the right direction for the long-run. I haven’t had the opportunity to speak with my current two Senators about this bill, but I’d certainly jump at the opportunity. This work was placed into the Public Domain by Alexander S. Peak. No Rights reserved. For more information on the Read the Bills Act, see: http://www.downsizedc.org/read_the_laws.shtml