How Congress Affects Our Daily Life

The Center on Congress and the Close-Up Foundation joined together to produce the second in a series of programs, airing on the C-SPAN television network.

The program, How Congress Affects Our Daily Life, aired February 18, 2000 on C-SPAN.

Featured guests were former House Minority Leader, Robert Michel [R-Illinois]; former House Representative Patricia Schroeder [D-Colorado]; and director of FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, James L. Witt.

The panel spoke to the Close-Up students about how actions taken in Congress affect the daily lives of Americans. Among the issues they addressed were the government's role in disaster relief, the federal role in civil rights, health research and air safety. After their remarks they answered questions from the students. Following are excerpts from the program.

Is the role of Congress over-estimated or under-estimated?

Oh, it’s way under-estimated . . . a lot of young women when I grew up weren’t participating in sports at all; schools wouldn’t let them in. The federal government, by pushing Title IX, advanced civil rights in that and other areas. People take air safety for granted, medical research into illnesses . . . it really touches your life in so many different ways not to mention student loans that I’m always astounded when people say, Oh, it doesn’t have anything to do with me.

I’m also not sure how well schools are teaching civics anymore . . . a lot of the groups that used to come visit from Colorado, they’d come to visit the monuments. And I used to say to them, The monuments? The monuments aren’t your government! Come see real people at work and ask them real questions it gives you a whole different perspective. That’s getting a real civics lesson, and I don’t think they’re doing that as well as they used to.

Former-Rep. Patricia Schroeder [D-Colorado]

Has there been an ebb and flow on the view of Congress, sometimes worse sometimes better? Now these kids are told the era of big government is over and the opinion polls on Congress are pretty low, hasn’t that influenced the notion of what Congress’ role is?

It kind of moves in cycles. I’m reminded when I was first elected 45 years ago, my charge from a conservative district like mine out in central Illinois they didn’t ask me to do this or that - they just told me to go down to Washington and get the government off my back and lower my taxes! That was it, that was my charge. Then in those next 40 years of time, we were just asked to do one program after another till some would say enough; there’s too much intrusion in my life government is determining this and that for me. But you change your mind over time I’ve gotten very involved in health research and funding those activities, and since I’ve left Congress I’ve even been involved in efforts to double the funding for NIH because we are making such rapid progress in so many important diseases. So I’ve gone through the whole cycle, but still feel good about government.

Former House Minority Leader, Robert Michel [R-Illinois]

Now that you’re seeing life from the other side, what about businessmen who diminish the role of government and say it’s really industry that drives everything?

I tell them, there’s not a day goes by that government isn’t doing something to you not always good either. You have an obligation, a responsibility, to take some time away from your business, and if you don’t it’s going to happen anyway. So you have to be a participant in the process, whether it’s in the state legislature or at the U.S. Congress level. And I find they’re much more interested now and organize all these groups and they come on down and petition the Congress for redress of grievances. And that’s the way it ought to be.

Bob Michel

James Lee Witt, as director of the Federal Emergency Management Administration, nobody ever says after a diasaster, do they, we don’t want big government! Talk to us about the role of FEMA and how it works with Congress.

FEMA is needed. When the President declares a federal disaster area everyone looks to us and they’re asking, When am I going to get the money? In the work we do with Congress, we serve constituents of theirs all across the United States, so we work in a bi-partisan way. We don’t distinguish whether they’re Republicans or Democrats when you’re out there in a middle of a disaster. And Congress is very supportive of what we do because it impacts people’s lives. And without FEMA, if you have a major flood or tornado, or earthquake or fires, then it’s very difficult for a family who has lost everything to get their lives back together. When that weather event affects a community or a state and if there’s no one there to help them recover, then it affects the national economy as well.

Let me tell you a story, the 1993 flood along the Mississippi river. It flooded nine states and 500 counties. The impact was tremendous. Congressman Volkmer from Missouri called me and asked me what can we do to prevent this from happening again. He asked me to come to the Hill and we had a meeting in Speaker Foley’s office and several Members came and they passed the Volkmer amendment to our legislation. They wrote the amendment and passed it and it was signed by the President faster than any piece of legislation I’ve ever seen. And what that did it authorized us to work with the states and the communities on behalf of these people who were devastated by the flood and gave them an opportunity to be bought out at fair market values before the flood and then turn that land into open land use management green space where you never had to spend another tax dollar on responding again. And it was environmentally good too because they built parks, and baseball fields, and jogging trails in the green space. So we can do a lot more now than we used to and I’m very proud of Congress. Congress has been very very supportive of what we do in a bi-partisan way, and without that support we couldn’t meet the need in these communities across America.

James L. Witt, FEMA Director

Look back over your career in Congress: what are you most proud of where you were involved in supporting or drafting legislation that had an impact on people’s daily lives that you look back on with a sense of pride of accomplishment?

When I cosponsored the resolution to give President Bush the authority to use force at the time we had the invasion of Kuwait. That was a very critical, very emotional decision for me because I was a foot soldier in WWII and I knew what war was. And here I was many years later elected to the Congress and I was in the position of possibly sending another generation of young people into harm’s way into another war. It still affects me today when I think of it. But in the final analysis, we did it, and it worked out well with a minimum of lives lost.

Bob Michel

I would say something most people don’t talk about. The thing I’m happiest about is that I served 24 years in the House and I came out with the same husband, my family is intact, I was never indicted, and I’m not in jail! The image is that that happens to everyone who is in politics but that just isn’t so, it’s just what everyone thinks because they only hear about the bad examples.

As far as issues, I think health issues. When I got there the research they were doing at the National Institutes of Health the NIH had no studies on women; they weren’t even using female rats! So we knew zip about women’s health they even did the breast cancer research on men! So moving things along in that area was great. Also Title IX and getting young women moving into sports.

Pat Schroeder

Mr. Witt, when there’s a disaster do you go out there yourself, is it hands on?

Absolutely. I feel very strongly that the people out there that are impacted - they need to know that all of us, the President, Congress, all of us, want to help them. And they need to know that. It’s important for them to know someone does care about them. I have a lot of compassion for these people when I see these situations. It just breaks my heart. So, yes, I go to almost every one of them.

James Witt

As a student I’m concerned about going to college and not having health insurance while I’m there. Can Congress do something about this, can you do anything to promote it?

Congress isn’t doing anything in this area at the moment as far as I know. This whole area of young adults in transition between home and on their own is difficult and it’s more the states that really direct what’s going on with insurance coverage. Luckily at 18 you have the vote so you organize and you approach them. It’s what they used to say in the cloakrooms: There go the people. We better get in front of them so we look like leaders!

Pat Schroeder

It comes down to the cost. It’s a controversial thing to do. It would be ideal for everybody to have the assurance that when they get sick they have some sort of an umbrella to take care of them, but it will take time and money to get there. Each new benefit requires new costs and then you get back to the time-honored concern of where does the initial tax base come from to foot the funding or subsidize the new program?

Bob Michel

Do you at FEMA have what you need being bi-partisan or have you had to struggle for resou

We’ve all struggled because Congress has agreed to budget caps and President Clinton and Vice-President Gore have worked to pay off the debt and achieve a balanced budget. And those things have given us the good economy we have now. But that has meant we’ve all had to struggle for enough resources in government the federal government is probably the smallest it’s been in 40 years or more, and we lost 300 employees at FEMA and had to reorganize a lot to compensate for that. We’re a small agency so we have a small budget. But the money for disaster relief is a separate thing we average $2.4 billion a year in disaster relief! So the cost is astronomical for relief and recovery and that’s why we are pushing prevention programs so hard and Congress has been very very supportive for that.

James Witt

Are there times when Congress gets over-involved in areas where they shouldn’t be?

There are unintended consequences sometimes by Congress rushing in. The whole area of safety. Some folks thought that air bags were the answer to everything and we mandated them. Then we found out that was too optimistic because we’ve had young children killed because of air bags, so then we had to adjust it. Sometimes we need to back up a bit and ask are we doing it right? When experience says we were wrong, there’s a lot of back and forth that goes on about blame that can become partisan, but in the end we better just correct it.

Bob Michel

The issue is how much do you want the government to insure that nothing goes wrong in your life? When do adults take responsibility for certain actions they cause? If you had to maintain your car to the federal standards required of airplanes you would be really angry because it would be really costly to get to that level of safety. If you can keep these different perspectives in mind you can understand better the conflicts we have in making these kinds of decisions.

Pat Schroeder

Could you share why you got involved in public service, why you chose it as a career?

When I was in high school, if someone had said one day you would be in the President’s cabinet and doing what you’re doing now, I would have said you need a psychiatrist! But then when I was 18 I actually worked in my first campaign and when I was 33 I ran for office and I was elected for six terms as a county judge. So what you do now with your involvement in politics, whether it’s at the local, state, or national level is what will really have an impact on your life, on your community, on your state. I would just encourage you to get involved. Don’t sit back and let someone else make those important decisions for you.

James Witt

When I came home and told my mother and father I was going to be in politics, my folks were just devastated! You’re going to get involved in that dirty, nasty game of politics? I said to my mom and dad, let me just give it a try. Let me see if it’s really that bad. And thank God, before they went on to their reward, they got to see their son get elected to Congress and they felt mighty proud about that. There have been some of the nicest and most wonderful people I’ve met in my life here, and they have been involved in politics. It can be a noble profession.

Bob Michel

There’s two ways to look at the world: you can either wring your hands about what’s going on or you can roll up your shirt sleeves and get involved. I think public service is getting involved, and if you’re just wringing your hands, you can’t make any difference.

Pat Schroeder