Lately I was fortunate enough to form part of a parliamentary delegation to Washington and New York. In Washington, of particular interest, the delegation was invited to view the Congress building and meet officials who work there. The idea was to make us Maltese parliamentarians familiar with the workings of Congress, which is the American equivalent to our Parliament.
I must state that I was deeply impressed by the efficiency and professional way the American legislative process is carried out. In America there is a bi-cameral system consisting of around 450 congressmen and 100 senators.
No doubt politicians in the US are at a great advantage compared to us and this due primarily to the extensive back-up such representatives are given. It must immediately be pointed out that, here in Malta, members of Parliament are regarded as part-timers and are given no administrative assistance whatsoever. Notwithstanding the considerable increase in the volume of work Maltese parliamentarians must now face with Malta's entry into the EU, our representatives have to act, so to speak, as a one-man band.
We were informed, for example, that each senator, depending on the size of his constituency, is allocated a budget of between $200,000 and one million dollars to employ support staff. In practical terms this means that each senator would have anything from between 20 to 100 personal assistants to ensure the smooth running of his office.
As if this were not enough, however, there is a congressional agency consisting of over 500 employees available at the beck and call of every representative, 24 hours a day. This agency is called the Congressional Research Service Agency and is the research arm of the United States Congress, working directly for members of Congress and their committees on a confidential, non-partisan basis. This agency was in effect created by Congress itself in 1914 so that Congress would have its own source of objective analysis and research on all legislative issues.
The assistance given to representatives is provided throughout the whole legislative process and the information given is always timely. The work of the research officers takes the form of written analytical reports, confidential memoranda, personal briefings and consultancy by telephone.
The idea behind the agency is to allow Congress access to important and delicate data and material independently from the executive branch of state. Interestingly, we were informed that employees of the Congressional Research Service are also endowed with special legal tools strengthening their authority to access the information required by any member of Congress or senator. In this respect the agency has the power to subpoena witnesses who are bound to divulge the information requested, unless of course such information is covered by the Official Secrecy Act. In practice, however, the agency rarely has to resort to such measures since the mere fact that it is endowed with such powers suffices.
For practical terms the building housing the Congressional Research Service Agency is situated very close to the congressional building itself, thereby giving members of Congress easy physical access. So efficient is the agency that a congressman may expect to be given a particular brief within hours and this is especially praiseworthy since the particular representative might need advice there and then while participating in a particular committee.
The institution in question is careful not to allow research analysts express a particular opinion on the issue being dealt with since it is left exclusively to the elected representatives to decide on policy. Similarly, American ethics dictate that such officials should in no way be associated with one political party or another. Furthermore, the Research Service Centre is not available to the public and hence the public may only access any information through this agency via their particular congressman.
No doubt it is impossible to perceive such a high powered parliamentary agency in Malta. We simply do not have the economic or personal resources. On the other hand, it is about time that something practical is done in Malta in order to assist us in our everyday work in the House. Without such assistance it is becoming ever more difficult for our part-time politicians to keep up with the huge volume of legislative work they are nowadays facing and this deficiency is surely greatly affecting the quality of their contributions.
It has long been suggested by various members of the House, and this from both sides of the political spectrum, that it is high time that a parliamentary secretariat is established which could well offer similar services to those being offered by the Congressional Research Service Agency in the US.
It is however important, even here in Malta, that such an agency would be completely autonomous from the executive branch of state. Even more important in our highly polarised country, the research analysts to be employed by such a secretariat should be completely apolitical and definitely not owe any allegiance to our political parties.
The scope of this article is to continue to mount pressure on the powers that be so that finally something similar to that proposed will be implemented and our parliamentary democracy will be thereby upgraded to the good of one and all.
Dr Herrera is a Labour member of Parliament.