More than 30 groups call on the House to re-establish the modernization committee

In a letter to leaders on Capitol Hill, a coalition of 38 organizations and 16 experts on Congress, including former members of Congress, called on the U.S. House to re-establish the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.

The letter reads:

Dear House Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader McCarthy, Chair Lofgren, Ranking Member Davis, Chair McGovern, and Ranking Member Cole:

We write to encourage the House of Representatives to re-establish the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress in the 117th Congress. The Select Committee made great strides during the 116th Congress toward improving the House of Representatives, as demonstrated by its in-depth hearings and nearly 100 recommendations, many of which were enacted by the House. The Select Committee demonstrated it is an effective model to further reform in the House and we believe it should be afforded the opportunity to build upon its successes and tackle additional issues.

In just 21 months, the Select Committee released five packages of recommendations, each unanimously voted out of the committee, totaling 97 bipartisan recommendations aimed at making the House more efficient, transparent, and inclusive. The Select Committee held 16 hearings, multiple virtual discussions, and numerous Member and staff-level briefing and listening sessions to develop ideas to reform and strengthen the Legislative branch. In March 2020, the House overwhelmingly enacted legislation to implement some of its recommendations, H. Res. 756, Moving Our Democracy and Congressional Operations Towards Modernization Resolution.

These efforts to modernize Congress are an excellent start, but there is more work to be done to ensure a responsive, modern, and accountable legislature. The Select Committee should review the implementation of its recommendations and dig deeper to identify appropriate next steps within the House of Representatives for modernization. In addition, its scope should be expanded to review the operations and configuration of Legislative branch support agencies to determine whether they are sufficient to support the House of Representatives in meeting all of its responsibilities.

Thank you for your leadership and support of the Select Committee during the 116th Congress. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further.

Sincerely,

Advocacy Blueprints

American Library Association

American Oversight

Bipartisan Policy Center

Business for America

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)

Civic Health Project College to Congress

Common Ground Solutions

Congressional Management Foundation

Data Coalition

Demand Progress

Democracy Fund Voice

FairVote

Fix the Court

FixUS

Free Government Information (FGI)

Government Accountability Project

Government Information Watch

GovTrack.us

Institute for Democratic Engagement & Accountability (IDEA) at the Ohio State University

Issue One

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

Leadership Now Project

Lincoln Network

The Lugar Center

NALEO Educational Fund

National Institute for Civil Discourse

National Taxpayers Union

Open The Government

Partnership for Public Service Project On Government Oversight

Protect Democracy

Quorum

R Street Institute

Resetting the Table

Senior Executives Association

Taxpayers for Common Sense

Alex Howard, Digital Democracy Project*

Beth Simone Noveck, The Governance Lab*

Bob Inglis, RepublicEn.org*

Brian Baird, Former Member of Congress*

Carolyn Lukensmeyer, National Institute for Civil Discourse*

Casey Burgat, The George Washington University*

Eric Mill, Individual Kevin M. Esterling, University of California, Riverside*

Kevin Kosar, American Enterprise Institute*

Kristen Hansen, Individual Lorelei Kelly, Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown*

Michael Neblo, Ohio State University / Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability*

Marci Harris, POPVOX Inc*

Rick Shapiro, Individual Sarah Binder, The George Washington University and Brookings Institution*

Zaid Umar, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget*

* Affiliations listed for identification purposes only.