Let Not the House of Representatives Take the Public's Name in Vain

Public Agenda statement on the U.S. House of Representatives' move to hold nationwide hearings on immigration.

In a statement broadcast nationwide in March 2006, Public Agenda called on national leaders to conduct an authentic civic dialogue on immigration policy options and include real input from the American people. Now, House leaders say they will hold summer hearings around the nation before trying to compromise with the Senate on an overhaul of immigration laws.

Public dialogue on important issues is key to a well-functioning democracy. And it is never too late in the process of developing good legislation to pause and truly gauge public thinking on how to proceed. A public engagement process that allows a broad swath of the American public to weigh in at this crucial moment could move critical legislation on such important issues forward.

According to The New York Times, "The focus of the summer hearings and the schedule were uncertain Tuesday as Republicans suggested that they would be used both to explore the content of the Senate bill and to survey public opinion on the issue. But it was clear House Republicans intended to use the forums to try to expose what they saw as failings in the Senate bill and to build public opposition to that approach."

For the record, deploying a pseudo-citizen engagement campaign as an obstructionist tactic will only increase the general public cynicism and disgust with the political status quo. It certainly will do nothing to improve America's policies with respect to immigration. Conducting a real public engagement process would mean hearing from Americans who are not heads of organizations or experts with well-established, sometimes well-entrenched, positions on immigration. Authentic public engagement also requires honest, non-manipulative discussion of the benefits and drawbacks of different approaches.

House leadership should take note: The so-called "listening tours" conducted by both Republicans and Democrats during the Social Security debate attempted a similar faux public dialogue. Many saw them as booster rallies where dissenting opinions were not welcome. Americans weren't shepherded then and they won't bow to the crook now.

Public engagement should not be used as a delaying tactic, a diversion or a stalking horse against the political opposition. The American public deserves better. Invoking the public's name simply to manipulate the political process is not responsible governing.

"We are going to listen to the American people, and we are going to get a bill that is right," Speaker J. Dennis Hastert said today. The Speaker is now on record. Let's get the American people on the record, too.