The Senate Renames, Recognizes, and Congratulates the Day Away

The Senate seems determined not to get any real work done. That is the only conclusion I can reach after reading the bills and resolutions that they passed on Friday. The following is a full accounting of these passed items:

Senate Resolution 15: A resolution acknowledging the lifelong service of Griffin Boyette Bell, a legal icon, to the State of Georgia and to the United States.

Senate Resolution 16: A resolution designating the week of February 2 through February 6, 2009, as "National School Counseling Week".

Senate Resolution 17: A resolution recognizing and honoring Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III, his co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles, the crewmembers of U.S. Airways Flight 1549, and the first responders, ferry operators and tug boat drivers of New York City, for their heroic and intuitive roles in the safe emergency landing of U.S. Airways Flight 1549.

Senate Bill 273: A bill to require the designation of the federally occupied building located at McKinley Avenue and Third Street, S.W., Canton, Ohio, as the "Ralph Regula Federal Office Building and Courthouse".

Okay, I understand that people like Griffin Boyette Bell, and that school counselors need recognition, and that that plane landing in the Hudson was really cool, but can't we recognize those people in a forum other than the floor of the United States Senate? We need to be doing some hard work to get the nation on track.

The last item, however, poses a bit of a quandary, so I'd like to spend a few moments talking about it. You'll notice that it is a bill rather than a resolution. This is due to the fact that it takes an official act of congress to rename federal buildings. But really, should it?

Why is it a part of our laws that in order to rename a federal building, both chambers of congress have to take time out to agree on a name? That's a horrific waste of the precious little time that they've allocated themselves to run the country. How about we change that particular law to authorize some outside commission to handle that sort of thing? This is the sort of thing we can change to make our government more efficient and responsive to the needs of the people. So I've decided that I'm not going to let anyone off the hook for these renaming bills despite the fact that currently, only the congress is authorized to do it. We should change that law rather than wasting time on mundane items such as these. So Sherrod Brown, you're going on the Worst Offenders list too.