Does Congress really do anything?

An Associated Press article appeared on the New York Times website today with the headline "Citizenship for Polish Hero of American Revolution." According to the article, Obama signed a joint resolution of Congress on Friday that made Gen. Casimir Pulaski, a polish soldier who died 230 years ago in the American Resolution, an honorary citizen of the United States.

A quick search of THOMAS, a bill database created by the Library of Congress, reveals more frivolous resolutions in Congress. For example, House Resolution 397, introduced in May 2009: "Affirming the rich spiritual and religious history of our Nation's founding and subsequent history and expressing support for designation of the first week in May as `America's Spiritual Heritage Week' for the appreciation of and education on America's history of religious faith." But wait, there's more! Senate Resolution 72, introduced in March: "Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding drug trafficking in Mexico." At this one involves a somewhat relevant topic. More recently, in October there were no less than two resolutions "supporting the goals and ideals of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month," etc.

This comes at a time when the nation is just beginning to recover from a financial crisis and Congress is debating health care reform. During all of this Congress and the President of the United States decide to stop what they are doing, even if only for a few minutes, and focus on important issues, like declaring a dead war hero a US citizen. Does Gen. Pulaski deserve honor? Probably. Does Congress need to take time out to honor him? No.

Now, I like war heroes just as much as the next guy. But this is ridiculous. All of the resolutions like this that looked at online have a lot in common. They are long lists of "Whereas," followed by a statistic or statement. At the end is a "Resolved, that the House of Representatives --" and then a statement that doesn't really do anything. Basically, these kinds of resolutions are statements of the opinion of the writer, who hopes to get his or her opinions on the national stage by taking up Congress' valuable time. So, in like manner, I humbly submit this resolution to Congress (Representatives and Senators: feel free to copy this):

H.RES. 999

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

November 7, 2009

RESOLUTION

Acknowledging the frivolity and uselessness of Congressional resolutions and recommending that the honorable and esteemed representatives of our nation use their time for more productive purposes.

Whereas Congressional resolutions are frivolous and a waste of the government's time;

Whereas multiple health care bills are currently in Congress and require deep thought and deliberation on the part of members of Congress; and

Whereas an enormous amount of time is being taken up writing, discussing, passing, and signing useless resolutions: Now, therefore, be it

          Resolved, that the United States House of Representatives--

                    (1) affirms the need for Congressmen to stop passing
                    frivolous and pointless resolutions; and

                    (2) acknowledges that the economic crisis and the health
                    care debate are more relevant to current congressional
                    discussion than minor revolutionary war heroes.