Legislative Committee Reform and New Federal Government Approaches to Solve the Pacing Problem and the Collingridge Dilemma

While scientific and technological advancements progress exponentially, the structure of the United States Federal Government committees has remained relatively unchanged since the mid-19^th century. Being a key filter for issues that come to Congress, I believe that structural reform can expediate the legislative process and thus improve the American Government’s ability to cope with a rapid influx of new issues, while still using reactionary policies. Proactive legislation should be avoided to protect the private sector’s ability to innovate modern advances. It is also imperative that jurisdictional boundaries are clarified and enforced within committees and subcommittees to properly allocate resources and improve specialization. Specifically, subcommittees should be given more responsibility and be more segmented and limited to 4-8 sitting legislators. Additionally, laws requiring single purpose bills should be enacted to minimize the barriers to new legislation and improve Congress’s ability to react to a rapidly changing scientific and technological environment.