Watching the hearings held by the Jan. 6 committee as it delves into the events at the Capitol last year and what lay behind them, I’ve been struck by what you might think of as the “meta-coverage.” It’s been fascinating to see.
Most news stories have focused on the alarming revelations uncovered by the committee. But some coverage has instead focused on how the select committee has gone about its work: the technology it’s using and its clear narrative of the events leading up to and following the attack on the Capitol.
There is much about this that’s new, from the use of relevant footage to production values that make the hearings seem up-to-the-minute, rather than a throwback to an earlier era. But there is also much that is, in fact, time-tested congressional process.
What the hearings are doing is what congressional committees at their best have always done: focus on a complicated topic, present the facts about it to the American people, leave us all better informed than we were before, and possibly have an impact on how government operates.
I’ve always believed that part of the job of a politician is to educate the public – about the facts and about their meaning for the US and for public policy. If, as a country, we’re to build consensus based on the real world, then you have to start with the facts. Ultimately, a democratic society depends on the ability of citizens to form good judgments based on the realities facing us; if they don’t, the country suffers.
The same, of course, goes for policy-makers. In that case, the country depends not just on their ability to ground their work in the facts, but to explore an issue and then deliberate on what to do about it. The deliberative process – which in Congress was once rooted in the work of committees – produces better law, forc members of Congress to understand an issue, accommodate different interests, and ultimately knock out bad ideas and bad proposals in favor of initiatives that can command a consensus.
So I take the Jan. 6 committee’s innovations as a good sign. It has updated the mechanics of the process to create a compelling lesson in the value of thorough research and leveling plainly with the American people. In short, it has demonstrated what Congress is capable of achieving. Here’s hoping other committees are taking note.
Lee Hamilton is a Senior Advisor for the Indiana University Center on Representative Government; a Distinguished Scholar at the IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies; and a Professor of Practice at the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years.
Lee Hamilton is a Senior Advisor for the Indiana University Center on Representative Government; a Distinguished Scholar at the IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies; and a Professor of Practice at the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years.
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