Last week, the CEO of Robinhood testified in front of the House Financial Services Committee over the platform's culpability in the GameStop market manipulation debacle. In a five hour session, Vlad Tenev fielded a wide range of questions from members of the committee. As my congressman is not a member of the committee, I attempted to contact a nearby congressman who is on the committee only to discover that he doesn't take correspondence from non-constituents. Failing that, I attempted to contact the chairman of the committee and found out that they also do not take correspondence from non-constituents.
This is unacceptable. If we are going to have 29 House committees, then we, as citizens, should be allowed to make our voices heard to, at the very least, the committee chairman.
In the last handful of years, I have had the opportunity to speak to many politicians face to face. Not once was I ever asked if I was their constituent. They were happy to hear my questions and comments. It didn't matter if I was their constituent or if I voted for them. Why should email correspondence be any different? Hearing the opinions of citizens should be a primary function of legislators, not an inconvenience. As of this writing, there have been over 1,300 bills introduced in this legislative session in the House alone. We as citizens should be allowed to have a say in them. Limiting who can talk to a legislator is not how it should work.
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In the grand scheme of things, I realize that this is a minor issue. Or is it? Let's try a hypothetical. Let's say that Scott Fitzgerald (WI-5) introduces a bill to make synthetic beef illegal. Now, considering that a significant portion of his district is rural farmland, this proposal could have strong support. However, if citizens outside of the district could have input, it is possible that a compromise could be reached before the bill even hits the floor, increasing overall efficiency in Congress.
That's what it really should be about. We deserve a government that takes care of issues effectively with a majority of people agreeing, at least in part, to the solutions put forth. Yes, we have become massively partisan and compromise is a thing of the past, but if we ever want to go forward together, compromise is required.