ON PREPARING OUR POLITICAL REPRESENTATIVES

MORE HOMEWORK NEEDED

I read something today in the Congressional Quarterly (aka CQ.com, via memeorandum) something that is symptomatic of an issue we need to be more thoughtful about as a democracy. 

Titled "Democrats new intelligence chairman needs a crash course on Al Qaeda", the piece discusses Representative Silvestre Reyes, the 62-year old incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who also sits on the powerful  Armed Services Committee, who:

"...like a number of his colleagues and top counterterrorism officials that I’ve interviewed over the past several months, Reyes can’t answer some fundamental questions about the powerful forces arrayed against us in the Middle East..."

"The dialogue went like this:

Al Qaeda is what, I asked, Sunni or Shia?

“Al Qaeda, they have both,” Reyes said. “You’re talking about predominately?”

“Sure,” I said, not knowing what else to say.

“Predominantly — probably Shiite,” he ventured.

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

Al Qaeda is profoundly Sunni. If a Shiite showed up at an al Qaeda club house,  they’d slice off his head and use it for a soccer ball."

The CQ reporter exhibited his organization's non-partisan credentials by adding:

"...(Representative Reyes) he knows that the 1,400- year-old split in Islam between Sunnis and Shiites not only fuels the militias and death squads in Iraq, it drives the competition for supremacy across the Middle East between Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia.

That’s more than two key Republicans on the Intelligence Committee knew when I interviewed them last summer. Rep.

Jo Ann Davis

, R-Va., and

Terry Everett

, R-Ala., both back for another term, were flummoxed by such basic questions, as were several top counterterrorism officials at the FBI."

The interview goes on to illustrate additional basic questions that the incoming chairman did not know the answer to, like the following exchange:

"And Hezbollah? I asked him. What are they?

“Hezbollah. Uh, Hezbollah...”

He laughed again, shifting in his seat..."

I apologized for putting him “on the spot a little.” But I reminded him that the people who have killed thousands of Americans on U.S. soil and in the Middle East have been front page news for a long time now.

It’s been 23 years since a Hezbollah suicide bomber killed over 200 U.S. military personnel in Beirut, mostly Marines."

The whole piece reminds me of the embarrassing kerfuffle Republic Senator Ted Stevens, Chairman of  the Senate Commerce Committee, found himself with the technology community recently by describing the Internet "as a set of tubes".

This post is not to mock the seeming lack of basic knowledge of our political leadership, but rather to suggest that these anecdotes suggest a wider than acknowledged problem, and a possible solution.

In the securities business, every person employed, from the lowliest associate to the highest CEO needs to pass certain registration examinations, which make sure that the people with specific, technical responsibilities are up to speed on the basics required in their job.  This is true regardless of the seniority of the position.  This registration regimen is set up as an industry driven initiative where various financial organizations are responsible for their administration.  As this wikipedia entry explains on how this is done under the aegis of the SEC:

"The Market Regulation division oversees Self-Regulatory Organizations (SROs) such as NYSE, NASD and MSRB, and all other broker-dealer firms and investment houses. Market Regulation also interprets proposed changes to regulations and monitor operations of the industry. In practice, the SEC delegates most of its enforcement and rulemaking authority to NYSE and NASD. In fact, all trading firms not regulated by other SROs must register as a member of NASD. Individuals trading securities must pass exams administered by NASD to become registered representatives. ^{[6] [7]}

The Investment Management Division oversees investment companies and their advisory professionals. This division administers federal securities laws. The SEC can interpret such laws and make rules to improve disclosure of information and to minimize risk to investors, without imposing undue burden on regulated companies."

Other SROs run similar examinations and registration programs for the real estate and medical industries, amongst others.

Perhaps it's time we consider similar requirements for our political representatives, whereby they're required to study for, and sit for registration requirements, regardless of the seniority of the position.  And it could run across the Legislative, Executive and perhaps even the Judiciary branches of government.

Just a thought.  Open to other suggestions.

 

 

Comments

[avneron]

amazing ignorance.

i am not sure having politicians pass certification tests is the solution, but this needs to be resolved one way or another.