Why Hearings Are Good

In the aftermath of influenza and colds that swept through my family this winter, my house a mess. So I was surprised the other evening when my wife suggested we invite half a dozen people over for dinner. “Are you nuts?” I responded, “The place is a disaster area.” “Exactly,” she said.

If you don’t get that logic, you’re not alone. I’m a linear thinker. To me, first you clean the house and then you invite folks over. My spouse is more strategic than that. She realizes it may be months before we clean the house without a ‘time forcing event.’ She’s not interested in a dinner party, she wants the house straightened up.

Congressional hearings have a similar effect, but it’s the guests, rather than the hosts, who usually have more work to do.

The Administrator and I testified at a House hearing on EPA’s proposed 2009 budget today (see picture). I was just there for support, but I still figure I personally spent several hours preparing for this hearing. Was the hearing worth the time? Yes. Not all hearings are of the same quality, but if agency officials do it right, preparing for a hearing can be an excellent way to make sure the house is in order.

For instance, until I began preparing for this hearing I had no idea that for 2008 Congress moved over $2 million from Superfund’s removal, emergency response and Federal facility programs to the remedial program (which we’re proposing to move back). Likewise, I learned that, assuming current attrition rates, 92% of EPA’s senior managers will be eligible for retirement in 2013 (which is why we’re requesting an increase of $500,000 for leadership development).

The Administrator and I weren’t asked about these and many other things at the hearing, but it doesn’t matter. I feel better and more confident about where we are and what I know about where we are. I assume that effect also rippled through the EPA offices that helped prepare the Administrator and me for the hearing.

Of course the additional preparation time I needed for the hearing did have a cost – I had no time to help clean up at home. I’d tackle that tonight, but I have another hearing tomorrow.

Comments

[Marcie Beaucoup]

My problem is that I really don't actually clean the house. I roll up everything into a tablecloth, stuff it in a closet, and after the party unroll the mess back to where it was originally.

[Marcus]

Marcie, that's brilliant. Gives me a new idea for using velcro.

[Dennis]

We need to crucify the polluters costing us all billions of dollars.

Lets start with cigarette butts!!