How to get the kind of Congress our country is pleading for

A lot is being written about all of the candidates running for president. I want to focus some attention on those who want to be representatives of their districts or states in the 115th Congress, a co-equal branch of our government.

{mosads}Having formerly represented the 17th District of Texas for 26 years, I understand all politics are local, but also agree that our current political system is broken. Let me offer some suggestions for the upcoming elections that might be helpful in getting up under the hood and fixin’ it by the only people who can fix it: those elected to represent the interests of all Americans back home.

Candidates are often asked to sign pledges to carve out support for many worthwhile causes. I want to suggest a different sort of pledge that might begin restoring the people’s faith in our legislative system.

Shouldn’t those who are honored by their constituencies by being elected want to be proud of the institution they all work so hard to be a part of? Don’t we constituents deserve representatives who spend more time legislating than raising money for the next election? The pledge that I am suggesting offers some of these components.

• I pledge to spend more time working for improvements than I do denigrating Congress, the other party or the system of government our Constitution has provided.

• I will support the return to “regular order” in Congress that current Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has promised for the balance of the 114th Congress.

• I understand that this means taking my constituent needs and working through the legislative process to accomplish as much as I can. This could mean taking any idea for how to improve our country that I have and trying to find a member of the other party to work with me. If we can agree, then we can take our idea to legislative counsel to draft a bill. We’ll then offer the bill in the House, where it will be referred to an appropriate committee and then a subcommittee, which will hold hearings to entertain opinions on the bill and conduct an open mark-up, a process whereby committee members amend, change and improve our original idea, provided they get a majority of votes. Then, the bill returns to the full committee, where the same process is followed, then on to the full House of Representatives, where members who have different ideas can be heard. Once passed in the House, the bill moves to conference with the Senate, and is ultimately sent to the president for his signature.

• I pledge to respect the roles of negotiation and compromise in every significant and wide-reaching effort, and I will engage constructively in that process.

• I will respect my colleagues who hold different views, accepting that people of goodwill and perspectives come up with different solutions. I will work through regular order to accomplish as much as I can for what I believe.

• I fully acknowledge that nothing worthwhile has ever been accomplished for our country with only Democratic or only Republican votes. Specifically addressing the issue of our national debt as it approaches $20 trillion and threatens the future of our country, if I am privileged to serve on the Budget or Ways and Means Committees, I will, through regular order, bring legislation to the floor and, where appropriate, to the president’s desk, that will fix our debt. Everything will be on the table. No exceptions! I will let regular order determine the final package, on time. No more waiting ’til the end of the year.

• I pledge that I will live within our country’s economic means, just as my responsible constituents live within their families’ financial means. If I serve on any other committee, I will participate in the budget process under regular order by examining every program under our jurisdiction to determine what should be cut, eliminated or expanded in order to grow our economy and provide for the general welfare.

• If I am honored by my constituents by being elected, I realize my job is in Washington, D.C. I pledge to work 9-to-5, with overtime and weekends where necessary to get the job done, just as my constituents do. The 114th Congress will work 69 days in 2016 — explain that to the people you want to vote for you! For 2017, that means passing a budget on time so that appropriations can be passed and all government functions can proceed in efficient regular order. That can’t be done in 69 days! So 2017 is the goal.

• I further pledge that I will not solicit and will not accept any contribution for the next election, or to pay off any debt I may have incurred, until after Oct. 1, 2017. I plan to demonstrate, through my actions, why I should be re-elected. I fully understand that living within our means applies to candidates and parties as well as our country. The first bill out of the House should be a very simple one: It shall be illegal to solicit or receive any contribution for political purposes until Congress gets its work done. That includes any opponent for 2018.

As we have already witnessed in the presidential race, the people are frustrated with our broken political system. It’s not just Congress’s image within the United States that is at stake; our worldwide reputation and effectiveness are being threatened. Only Congress can fix itself, and those who are elected in November must commit to getting this job done!

I believe that if this pledge had been offered to me for signing when I was serving in Congress, then I would have gladly signed it for one significant reason: It would have been in the best interest of the people of the 17th District of Texas. I could not have thought of a reason not to sign that my constituents or those of the other 434 congressmen and 100 senators would have accepted.

Stenholm is a former U.S. representative from Texas, serving from 1979 to 2005. He is currently a senior policy adviser at Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Matz PC.