Better Congressmen, More Opportunitites

Mike Fitzpatrick is the congressional representative of the 8^th district of Pennsylvania and a member of the Republican party. That sentence alone—as simple, informative, even boring as it is—demonstrates the difficult and dual nature of congress. Mike Fitzpatrick, like all of his colleagues, is living a double life. Congressman Fitzpatrick is expected to adhere the broad, national ideals of the Republican Party, his party, while simultaneously representing the needs and wants of his constituents—republican and democrats alike—in the United States Congress. It is plain to see how these two actions challenge each other—Fitzpatrick must work with his colleagues for the national party, but he also must be consistently be keeping the specific, small town interests of his constituents in mind. Contradiction is in the job description. However, partisanship aside, I think most district eight-er’s can agree that Fitzpatrick overcomes, even embraces, this contradiction surprisingly well. Firstly, Mike Fitzpatrick is in a good position to be a fairly successful congressman (which nowadays is akin to some sort of mermaid or unicorn) because he is a moderate Republican. He has maintained his house seat over the last six years because his actions do not alienate his more liberal constituents (district 8 has about a 50/50 split between republicans and democrats). In fact, he takes many actions which seem to benefit the largest possible quantity of his constituents. Over the past six years, Fitzpatrick’s career has been centered around jobs: now, economic theories aside, I think we can all agree that jobs are important. We pretty much all need one, and Fitzpatrick recognizes that. His biggest initiative is titled “Better Jobs, More Opportunities” which involves building local businesses so they can support more employees. This tactics include a heavier reliance on American energy, closing the skills gap between workers and family sustaining jobs and investing in American infrastructure, all in an effort to support manufacturers and businesses. These are initiatives that his constituents can view as personal to them, but that can in the same instance work positively for the whole country. Congress currently has a dismal 14% approval rating. Consequently, and unsurprisingly, the hot button political question (or one of many) is what does it take to make a great—no good—no let’s just go with—adequate  member of Congress. I do not mean to contend that Mike Fitzpatrick is a model congressman (he’s not—his initiatives usually surround economics and neglect other issues) but maybe he has struck an insightful note—one that we all should hear. Congressman Fitzpatrick is successful because his constituents know what to expect of him. His “Better Jobs, More Opportunities” is an annual initiative. They expect Fitzpatrick to work for jobs and businesses that will help them, but in a manner that also affects the country positively on the national level. So perhaps its not—theoretically—that congressman need to change their behavior (although admittedly many could use an attitude adjustment), but rather the American people need to change how they perceive congress should function. Perhaps, congressmen and women should hear their constituents concerns and translate them into a national language—a language that all Americans can understand.