Just an Extension of the Current House of Representatives

The existence of speaker and chairpersons and committee members and the other organizational devices in the the House of Representatives are essential to the functioning of that body. Without such internal organization no group of individuals exceeding half a dozen would produce but a continuing disorder. And the committees and the general structure of the House would not be altered in any way by Constitutionally Appropriate Representation. Just as the membership decides who shall chair the various committees and who shall speak for the various political parties and who shall participate in the various legislative groups and caucuses now, then so too would it remain. The ascendancy of individuals who "possess an independence of mind and a breadth of experience or knowledge that would provide a capacity for deliberation that ordinary citizens lacked"(2) would still function within the committee structures of the House. And efforts on the part of parties and special interests to place particular advocates into the hierarchy of power in the House will doubtless continue. But the existence of more members of the House works to check the cabals and intrigues. With the power to defeat legislation that is not in the common good held in the hands of more sympathetic and accountable members, the power inherent in hierarchical and/or aristocratic designs is controlled so as to become ineffectual but for furthering the common good. Extended representation insures that, through their representatives, the people would hold a negative on legislation produced by such "committees of deliberate and enlightened men". With an enlarged House membership the committees for the creation of legislation are constrained because these committees would be fully aware of the power of the people inherent in expanded representation, the power to simply negate any acts of connivance. And though the election of committee members by the House membership at large can and will show an appreciation of those who might "possess an independence of mind and a breadth of experience or knowledge that would provide a capacity for deliberation that ordinary citizens"(might lack), the power to oppress which is inherent in such "enlightened" organizations within the House is much diminished, and so too the benefit to power mongering and the benefit of payola campaign funding.

The realization of constitutionally appropriate representation in the present world of high speed secure communications would probably find the additional members of the House firmly stationed in offices physically located in close proximity to the people they represent. There is little, if any, reason for these additional representatives to gather in a particular place unless they are active members of the committee structure of the House. The placement of the additional members in Washington D.C. would only facilitate access by The Lobby. The representatives are not supposed to represent The Lobby. They are suppose to represent their constituents. Any person ever glancing at Cspan will notice that the speeches of those supporting legislation or denouncing same can be heard and witnessed from ones own living room. And most certainly such communications and major improvements thereto would find their way to the local representative's office. It takes no longer to count 5000 votes registered from local offices than it does to count 435 votes registered from the floor of the House chamber, and modern cryptology and secure lines of communication can absolutely insure the validity of the voting. Local members would doubtless have access to the full text of all pending legislation and be held accountable for their voting activities in very short order. And we see that distance between the members of the House and The Lobby will be increased, and the distance between the members and those they represent will shrink. The logical and physical proximities will return our nation to that form of governance which we sought to achieve over 200 years ago: A nation governed by its people in pursuit of their own prosperities.