119th Congress Is Here
Last week, the 119th Congress took the oath of office to begin a new two-year term. While we often focus on who lives in the White House, it is also critical to understand what a new Congress means and how it impacts the issues we care about as bikers.
First and foremost, a new Congress means new lawmakers. As we have outlined in recent posts, nearly 100 new people will assume roles as freshmen in either the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate.
Seniority plays a key part in who holds power within the U.S. Capitol. The longer lawmakers stay around, the more power they tend to wield. But the crazy part is that seniority comes quickly!
During the last Congress, the average tenure in the House was 8.5 years. In the Senate, that number was 11.2 years. What does that mean? In a few years, today’s freshmen lawmakers will soon hold key positions in Congress. For example, the current Speaker of the House, Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana, was sworn into office in 2017. He’s now second in line to the Presidency. That’s why it is critical to get to know your Representative or Senator now, as you never know where they may end up!
The second thing to know about the beginning of a new Congress is that everything has started over. Any unfinished business or bills not passed are dead at noon on January 3rd. While the issues we advocate for remain, the bills associated with them and the bill numbers have expired. Over the next few weeks and months, new bills will be reintroduced with new bill numbers assigned. So, purge all those old bill numbers and bill titles, a fresh set of bills is coming soon!
A new Congress offers opportunities for fresh voices and perspectives to tackle the challenges we face. Let’s embrace this chance to work with new people in D.C. and remind those who have been in Congress for a long time who the Motorcycle Riders Foundation (MRF) is and what we care about. Remember, no one looks out for the street rider like the MRF does.
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