Summary of
A Tribute to the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, the 2023 Sander Award Winner
By Grande Lum and Bruce Patton
This Article Summary written by: Heidi Burgess
Citation: Grande Lum and Bruce Patton. "A Tribute to the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, the 2023 Sander Award. American Bar Association Winner." American Bar Association. Dispute Resolution Magazine. pp. 36-42. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/dispute_resolution/publications/dispute_resolution_magazine/2023/september/house-select-committee-modernization-of-congress-sander-award-winner/
In this article, Grande Lum and Bruce Patton describe the unique characteristics and significant accomplishments of the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress which, along with its Chair, Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and Vice Chairs Tom Graves (R-GA) and William Timmons (R-SC), was recognized by the ABA Dispute Resolution Section for "innovative dispute resolution methods and extraordinary achievement in its work as a committee."
The Select Committee, which Lum and Patton explain is generally known as "ModCom," was authorized in 2019 and was "tasked with investigating, studying, holding hearings, and making findings and recommendations to make Congress more efficient and effective." The original authorization was for one year, and it was renewed for a second year, and then two more years, sunsetting at the end of 2022. However, a new committee, The Subcommittee on Modernization of the House, within the Committee on Administration, has been authorized to continue ModCom's work.
ModCom was unique and important, both in terms of how it operated, and what it accomplished. The two are inextricably linked. As Chair Kilmer explained in a video and Lum/Patton described in the article, "if you wanted things to work differently in Congress, you had to do things differently in Congress.”
Chair Kilmer insisted that the Committee consist of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans with a two-thirds vote required to pass any single recommendation. The norm in other committees is for the majority party to have more seats, thus requiring a bare majority for passing votes. In every aspect of their work, ModCom took a different approach, credited by many to Chair Kilmer’s leadership.
Rather than having the Chairs sit at a dais, and everyone facing them (as is usual for Congressional committees), they sat around a round table, facing each other. They didn't have timed remarks, they had open conversations, facilitated by the chairs. They didn't have separate staffs. They shared one staff. They didn't have separate budgets. They shared one budget. "They would all wear 'jerseys that said ‘let’s fix Congress.’”
In hearings, Committee members sat next to members from a different party, as opposed to the traditional approach of Republicans and Democrats on opposite sides of the room. Chair Kilmer noted that when you hear a good idea you want to turn to the person next to you to talk about it, and the seating arrangement ensured that Committee members would talk to each other. Through this arrangement, they achieved better dialogue and conversation.
The Committee began its work with a bipartisan retreat, facilitated by Patton, who helped them define "success" and make a plan about how to reach it. They "broke bread" together, they brought in experts on civility and collaboration (including a sports coach!) and throughout their deliberations, they worked together, instead of opposing each other.
The results, Lum and Patton point out, were notable.
In its four years of service, the Select Committee made 202 recommendations, most of them adopted unanimously. To help ensure implementation, one of ModCom’s first process innovations was to issue rolling recommendations, roughly quarterly. As a result, more than 130 of its recommendations are already fully or partially implemented.
Among the innovations that have been implemented so far are
- New member orientation now has over twenty bipartisan events and activities; before there were none
- Increased member allowance for hiring staff, enabling the hiring and retention of more highly skilled staff members
- improving accessibility for people with disabilities
- adopting evidence-based policymaking
- strengthening Congressional oversight capacity
- modernizing district office operations
- improving constituent engagement and services
- improving House technology
Lum and Patton quoted the vice chairs as saying:
Tom Graves, a Republican from Georgia and the Committee’s original vice chair, observed, “One of the things I value most about this committee is how different our backgrounds are, but that as Members we’ve united with a common goal to improve the way our legislative branch works. Committee Members hail from opposite sides of the country, with different professional backgrounds and life experiences. We’ve identified opportunities for bipartisan learning, found ways to better connect with our constituents, encouraged bipartisan Member retreats, and showed the American people that regardless of our political differences, a commitment to those we serve should come first.
Vice Chair William Timmons, a Republican from South Carolina who took over after Graves retired from Congress, noted how important it was “to engage in evidence-based policy making in a collaborative manner from a position of mutual respect. We don’t do that [in Congress]. I’ve been in Congress for four years and five months. And outside of [this] committee, I have not done that.”
One of the founders of the fields of peacebuilding and conflict resolution and reknowned economist, Kenneth Boulding, had a famous "first law:" "if it exists, it must be possible." This was coined when economists insisted that it wasn't possible to have inflation and recession at the same time, despite the fact that that was happening. Boulding's first law applies here as well. If this committee was able to work collaboratively, and was exceptionally successful in passing useful recommendations, that way of working — and useful results —should be possible in the full Congress as well.
Lum and Patton concur:
The House Select Committee on Modernization of Congress is an exemplar for what is possible through working together differently—through improved communication, better understanding, and innovative dispute resolution. Their guiding principle was to make Congress work better for the American people. Our country is in a time of division while facing many tough issues, and the Committee showed us a path forward and what is possible if we work together.
