Special Order Hours

(Note - There will be one more final blog entry after this one. It will be entitled "Final Thoughts.")

On Monday night, July 14, I got to see something that had not been done in Congress since 1997, and it was Congressman Altmire's idea. When Congress is in session, after the time for legislative business is over (when they are done voting on bills for that day), they hold something called "Special Order Hours". These hours are in the evening and give the Congressmen the chance to speak on the floor of the House about issues that are important to them. Usually, the Republicans get one hour and then the Democrats get the other hour. During these two hours, each Representative gets 5 minutes to speak at a time. Because the political parties speak separately, the comments are usually very partisan.

Congressman Altmire remembered that in 1997, when Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the House, they did Special Order Hours differently. This is where Congressman Altmire got the idea for what he organized on Monday night. Rising gas prices and drilling for oil are two of the most significant issues facing the country right now. Congressman Altmire wanted to give Representatives the opportunity to have a dialogue about these issues, and to debate ways to address them. So from 8-10 p.m. on Monday night July 14, around 10-12 Representatives had an open debate for two hours. What was unique about this debate was that it was essentially un-timed - each Representative spoke as long as he needed to. They alternated sides - so one Republican Representative spoke and then one Democratic Representative spoke. The only timing that did occur was that a staff person for each party used a stopwatch to measure the amount of time each party had spoken. By the end of the two hours, each party had spoken for a total of an hour each. A Republican Representative moderated the first hour and Congressman Altmire moderated the second hour. What this means is that he called on the Members to speak and facilitated the discussion.

What was exciting for me was that I was one of the only people watching in person from the gallery. The other members of Congressman Altmire's staff were watching from home on C-SPAN since the Special Order Hours occurred so late at night. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to observe this unique event in person. Congressman Altmire later explained to me what he did to organize the evening. Even though the Special Order Hours were open to any Representative, Congressman Altmire specifically asked certain Democratic Representatives to be a part of it. The Republican moderator did the same by asking certain Republican Representatives to take part. Representative Altmire asked these specific Representatives to be a part of the dialogue because these people had specialties in different aspects of the issue. For example, one Representative knew about oil speculation and its impact on gas prices. Another Representative was head of a Congressional Committee that dealt with energy and energy policy. Hence, the comments that these Congressmen made were more factual and constructive.

For two hours, different Representatives took turns speaking. When they spoke, they often referred to large charts and graphs that had been pre-prepared. Each party had a large pile of these charts leaning against the wall behind them. Before it was their turn to speak, they looked through the pile against the wall to find the appropriate chart to make their case. They set this chart on an easel next to them as they spoke.

What struck me the most about this evening was how respectfully all the Congressmen were acting towards each other. Each side disagreed with what the other side was saying at times, and at times the comments did become heated, but overall it was respectful and productive. When Representatives speak about specific bills during Legislative Business, they usually talk about the merits of the bill and whether they support or oppose that particular bill. This Special Order Hours session was different because it was less a debate about a particular bill and more a dialogue about what was causing rising gas prices, what options existed to confront the crisis, and the costs and benefits of each option. I honestly found myself being persuaded by each side at different times.

I believe that each Congressman who participated had the best interests of his constituents at heart. It was fascinating for me to see, in person, how each Representative presented their arguments regarding the different methods of addressing the energy crisis. The "un-timed debate" format worked particularly well for facilitating a dialogue. I am excited to see what legislative measures will appear in the future as the result of it. Most of all, I appreciated how the different format encouraged the Congressmen to present their arguments, but in a constructive way, since they could talk back and forth with each other without worrying about a five-minute time limit. It was my impression that these Congressmen understood that more could be accomplished by taking turns talking "with" each other, rather than by simply talking "at" each other.