On July 31, the House of Representatives will hold its last session until Sept. 8.

In September, the House will be in session exactly 10 days until the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. The Senate will remain in pro forma session for minutes a day to preclude presidential recess appointments, but won’t accomplish anything during these periods. If this year copies most previous years, the House and Senate will compress required legislation — like passing a budget — into a wild few days in late September or it will pass an omnibus continuing resolution to fund the government. Leaving aside leadership for a moment, is this even rational? Why does Congress need all of August for a vacation? By the way, Congress will also take off the entire month of October — presumably to campaign.

At home, we have a $17.5 trillion debt and it’s growing at the rate of a trillion a year. By the time, President Obama leaves office, it will be close to $20 trillion. The Veterans Administration is a national disgrace. We have multiple scandals concerning Fast and Furious, the IRS, Benghazi and the NSA spying on Americans. We have an immigration crisis that was brought on by flawed immigration laws and a feckless administration.

Overseas, Crimea was seized by Russia and now the Russians are attacking Ukraine. Russian separatists shot down a passenger airplane with a missile (killing almost 300), open warfare is happening in Gaza, warfare is still happening in Syria, the present government of Iraq (our creation) trembles before ISIS and looks to Iran for aid, we just evacuated our embassy in Tripoli, Iran has just gained more months to prepare its atomic bomb before the West may react with sanctions, and China becomes more belligerent every week.

At this moment, our Congress decides to take the entire month of August for a vacation. Is it any wonder that the approval of Congress is now 13 percent? Oh, yes, the President also will be on vacation in August.

I’ll wager that, if you ask your congressman or senator about this pitiful work schedule, he or she would claim that it’s out of his or her control. The House of Representatives and the Senate collectively decided to follow tradition and not meet in August. As a former resident of the Washington, D.C. area, I will affirm that August not a nice time to be in Washington, but it is livable because of air-conditioning.

There is no similar excuse for not meeting in October.

In the late 20th Century, communication has improved so much that congressmen and senators keep in touch with their constituents very well all year. Why do congressmen and senators not meet in August and October? October is obvious, they want to keep their jobs. The answer for August is either the same as for October or, if the elected official has a safe seat, simply to go on vacation.

I’m waiting for somebody to lead. Will just a few of our elected leaders stay in Washington, D.C. in August and work toward solutions to all the problems listed above? Leaders should be rewarded and vacationers should be punished in November.

 

Michael Waldron is a retired lieutenant colonel, U.S. Army, who was born and raised in Niles. He previously served on the Niles Community School Board of Education. He can be reached at ml.waldron61@gmail.com.