In case you missed it: Henry Waxman, one of the most prolific and productive Congressmen ever to hold office is retiring. Usually when people retire these days it’s because they think Congress is broken and they can’t get anything done. Not Waxman.
I announced this past week that I will be retiring after having the honor of serving my Los Angeles constituents in Congress for 40 years.
Immediately, speculation began that I am leaving because I am frustrated with a broken institution. But the exact opposite is true: I am leaving Congress with my conviction intact that the legislative branch can be a powerful force for good.
Rep. Henry Waxman: Congress can do tremendous good, but it never comes easily – The Washington Post.
Please read the whole thing. From telecom reforms that increase access to the internet, to Medicare payment reform that will save billions, to the Clean Water Act of 1990, Waxman points out that success is never sudden — that it takes decades and generations of groundwork before an actual legislative victory happens. And often it’s by piecemeal, not a big, glamorous, Big-Bang bill-signing. But happen it often does. You push and push and push, and fail and fail and fail, until the moment arrives and you win.
Waxman’s career is, by the way, a strong argument against term limits — as are the careers of Ed Markey and Ted Kennedy. The people with age and experience, who take the long view, who persist in their efforts not for one legislative session, not one election cycle, but an entire career.
… With this in mind, Waxman also is counseling an outside strategy on the issue of climate change: Less speechifying to deaf ears on the House floor, and more public engagement:
Waxman and members of the caucus are taking a new route: weekly op-eds in The Huffington Post and weekly videos posted to YouTube on the risks of climate change.
Despite the current stalemate in Congress on substantial climate legislation, Waxman is optimistic.
“I think the American people, as they see one climate disaster following another, they are going to wake up and say to their representatives, ‘How can you deny this?’ ” Waxman said.
The videos and HuffPo articles can be spread via social media, which gets into the public opinion bloodstream. But it’s got to be followed up with real social interaction — face to face conversations between family members and neighbors … or even (gasp) email forwards. The climate movement needs to make itself more sticky.
SomervilleTom says
I’m sorry to see Mr. Waxman retire. REALLY sorry.
I’m not buying the it’s-not-because-I’m-frustrated line — at least, not unless and until Mr. Waxman announces a better option for himself.
I put approximately as much credence in his forty-years-is-a-long-time explanation as I do in the cliche “personal reasons” excuse. That’s a party line nearly always offered to cover (thinly) the truth.
We desperately need all the effective and energetic progressive legislators we can muster — Mr. Waxman surely fits that bill. He will be sorely missed by this Democrat.
JimC says
But 40 years IS a long time.
abs0628 says
And these are also the people who have the time and experience to build up staff that can develop expertise and not be quite as beholden to lobbyists because they’re not newbies — not in all cases, obviously, but in some. I imagine, for ex, that Waxman’s staff is on par with Ted Kennedy’s staff in this regard.
jconway says
Came from longtime Congress watcher Norm Ornstein. He also cites our own Ed Markey in the same breath as a legend like Waxman and Dingell.
But here is what he said about Waxman: