By Ray Smock

The death of the iconic advice columnist Dear Abby this week at the age of 94 reminded me that Senator Byrd’s archive contains a copy of a letter she wrote to Senator Byrd in 1978, when he appeared on the cover of TIME magazine as the Majority Leader of the Senate. Abby thought the Senator looked really good on the cover of TIME. 

By Ray Smock

When I was historian of the House of Representatives I kept a journal that described some of my observations of the House and my impressions of the people and events I witnessed. What follows is from my journal entry of January 6, 1993. The 103rd Congress opened on January 5, the day before, so this entry reflects on that event and on the counting of the Electoral College ballots that took place on the afternoon of Jan. 6. In a few days these two events will be repeated again. It is quite a track record when you think about it. These events mark the renewal of the House every two years since 1789, and every four years since 1789 the counting of Electoral Ballots to complete the constitutional requirement for the election of President of the United States.
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The circumstances surrounding the convening of the 113th Congress in 2013 are dramatically different than the events I witnessed twenty years ago. The nation is in a different place as the current Congress convenes. We are witnessing one of the worst displays of dysfunction—the inability to conduct the regular order of business that good governance depends on. I believe we will survive this crisis just as we have many other crises before this. But the process we are going through right now surely tests the resolve of those of us who firmly believe in the central importance of Congress to the proper functioning of our government.