When you consider all the iffy committees in the House of Representative, it’s hard to believe the chamber no longer has one dedicated to aging issues. But that soon might change.
And the possibility speaks to serendipity’s odd nature.
Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-RI) plans to reintroduce a resolution that would reinstate the House Permanent Select Committee on Aging, which was mothballed 23 years ago.
As proposed, the committee would focus on aging policy and perhaps develop new laws designed to help the aging. But like almost everything else in Washington these days, this seemingly straightforward effort has devolved into tribal politics.
When Cicilline proposed the same idea in the previous Congress, he attracted 63 cosigners, and not a single Republican was to be found among them.
Yet he had a bigger problem, a math problem. That’s because the GOP controlled the House. But things could be different this time, now that Democrats have the lead. To be clear, I’m not taking sides here. I just think the idea has merit, regardless of whose votes help make it happen.
Now what many people may not realize is that the brainchild behind this possible resurrection is not really Cicilline. It’s Herb Weiss.
Herb has more than four decades of writing experience under his belt, including numerous pieces for McKnight’s. However, his day job is as a city official in Pawtucket. As states go, Rhode Island is cozier than the rest. It barely occupies 1,000 square miles.
As it happens, Weiss and the good congressman have been crossing paths at quite a few events. To know Herb is also to know he’s a bit of nudge. So you can probably guess what Herb called on Cicilline to do.
The committee is not yet back. But the odds are better than even that it will return. And they say journalists don’t have any sway with Congress?
