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How Congress Really Works
Twelve
July 2009
On Sale: July 2, 2009
256 pages
ISBN: 0446519251
EAN: 9780446519250
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Political
At a time when some of the most sweeping national
initiatives in decades are being debated, Congressman Henry
Waxman offers a fascinating inside account of how Congress
really works by describing the subtleties and complexities
of the legislative process. For four decades, Waxman has taken visionary and principled
positions on crucial issues and been a driving force for
change. Because of legislation he helped champion, our air
is cleaner, our food is safer, and our medical care better.
Thanks to his work as a top watchdog in Congress, crucial
steps have been taken to curb abuses on Wall Street, to
halt wasteful spending in Iraq, and to ban steroids from
Major League Baseball. Few legislators can match his
accomplishments or his insights on how good work gets done
in Washington. In this book, Waxman affords readers a rare glimpse into
how this is achieved-the strategy, the maneuvering, the
behind-the-scenes deals. He shows how the things we take
for granted (clear information about tobacco's harmfulness,
accurate nutritional labeling, important drugs that have
saved countless lives) started out humbly-derided by big
business interests as impossible or even destructive.
Sometimes, the most dramatic breakthroughs occur through
small twists of fate or the most narrow voting margin.
Waxman's stories are surprising because they illustrate
that while government's progress may seem glacial, much is
happening, and small battles waged over years can yield
great results. At a moment when so much has been written about what's
wrong with Congress-the gridlock, the partisanship, the
influence of interest groups-Henry Waxman offers
sophisticated, concrete examples of how government can (and
should) work.
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