Those In Congress Need To Do Their Homework

This letter to the editor, by Laurie Harmon, appeared in the Hudson Star Observer on June 26, 2025.

When I was teaching English, I often felt frustrated when my students came to class without having read their assignments. Discussions were always more productive and meaningful when students came prepared. I understood, though, that their lives didn’t always revolve around my class or even school. 

Congress is a different story. Their constituents trust that they will be completely prepared and informed before they do their jobs: vote. They have no acceptable excuse, then, for failing to complete their homework, and I have no patience or understanding for those who don’t read "The One Big, Bogus Bill” before voting on it. 

This monumentally devastating bill for us all, which is making its way through Congress now, is projected to have significant negative impacts on the American people, including increasing the number of uninsured Americans by 10.9 million, creating catastrophic conditions for our most vulnerable populations, and adding trillions to our national debt. 

Still, despite the many disastrous details in the bill, it remains largely unread by our U.S. Representatives and Senators.  

At a recent town hall meeting, Republican Congressman Mike Flood was asked about a measure in the bill that would make it easier for the government to defy court orders. Bewildered, he responded with, “I am not going to hide the truth; this provision was unknown to me when I voted for that,” further indicating he wouldn’t have voted for the bill if he had known.

He didn’t do his homework. 

According to The New York Times, an outraged Marjorie Taylor Green claimed she wouldn’t have voted for the bill if she had known that a provision in the bill would block states from regulating artificial intelligence for a decade. 

She didn’t do her homework, either. 

Congress must do its homework! Our elected representatives are tasked with voting in our best interests and not in the interests of a tantrum-throwing president whose only goal is to make his cronies, his family, and himself wealthier than we could ever dream of being. 

Call Congress now. Urge them to do their homework: read the bill, or risk flunking out.