A Visit to the Senate Armed Services Committee

A huge benefit of attending the Army's Intermediate Level Education (ILE) at the Fort Belvoir satellite campus is the proximity to Washington, D.C.  We take advantage of this closeness by occasionally holding class "off-site," visiting various government agencies in the city.  On March 8th, 2012, my class section visited an open hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which was hearing testimony from the Honorable John McHugh, the Secretary of the Army, and GEN Ray Odierno, the Chief of Staff of the Army, on the Army's budget authorization request for fiscal year 2013 and the future of the Army - at least, that was the published intent of the hearing.

I found this trip to be utterly fascinating.  I admit that I don't have much interest in politics or the inner workings of government.  Whatever I had learned in middle or high school civics class has long since departed my brain, so this trip was highly educational.  Some of the things which I found interesting:

• Time keeping.  The Senators were allotted seven minutes to question Secretary McHugh and GEN Odierno.  This was not strictly enforced, which was not surprising.  What did intrigue me was the way in which the committee members were notified that their time was coming to a close.  You'd think that they'd have some sort of light system, or a gavel, or a bell of some sort.  Certainly not what they did use: Post-It notes.  Or, what looked to be Post-It notes from where I was sitting.  As each Senator's time came to a close, a staffer from the back walked to them and deposited a yellow square of paper next to both the Senator with the floor and the chairman.  I could only think of the little stack of notes that Senator Levin must have had in front of him by the end of the hearing.
• Lack of Committee cohesiveness.  I would have thought that a full committee hearing would be just that - the full committee hearing testimony.  Nope.  The full committee was there at the opening of the hearing, then they left until it was their turn to ask a question.  With senators and staffers constantly coming in and out of the room, it made for a very distracting environment.  It seemed even more disruptive because the door everyone used was directly behind the chairman.
• Political statements.  I can understand why no one wanted to stick around for the entire hearing, since it had very little to do with the actual stated purpose for the testimony, that is, the Army's budget request and the state of the Army.  Instead, it provided the members of the committee a platform to make statements, push their agendas, and get some sound bites for reelection campaigns.  Senator McCain pushed for a opinion to attack Iran.  Other Senators asked about reserve units or Army equipment programs which impacted their state only (the Air Force's proposal to drop the C-27 was one of the hot topics du jour).

On balance, it was a very worthwhile trip.  Seeing government operate (or, not) first hand really helps to drive home some of the frustration that people feel toward Congress.  I understand the human desire to get reelected, but Senators should have a wider field of view than just their State - that's why we have the House, after all.  Also, seeing a part of Congress in the flesh - the old, aged, barely mobile flesh - just reinforces in my mind the need for term limits.  (I'm looking at you, Senator Inouye.)

For the interested, open hearings are webcast and archived.