Discussion of 10-20-2009

(Translated from the Swahili version)

DC: Today I am here with our friend, Kevin Warnke. Kevin has been helping me by translating my words frequently here on KASSFM. He was also a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya. He lived on the coast, close to Malindi, and met a beautiful girl there who is today his wife. They live together here in DC. Kevin works in Congress, advising a Member on various issues. Welcome to the show Kevin.

KW: Thanks Duncan. I'm happy to be here with you.

DC: Not long ago, we were discussing here on KASSFM the death of a politician here in America, Senator Kennedy, and how he was a leading politician here. Before his death, Kennedy asked politicians to change how they would choose his successor. How is this normally done?

KW: To understand how this is normally done, we have to remember how Congress was originally created. Here in America, we have an "upper house", which is known as the Senate, and a "lower House", which is called the House of Representatives. In the House of Representatives, the method is simple: an election. This is the same method used in Kenya: "by-elections".

DC: Right. But for the Senate, they do something different, right?

KW: That's right Duncan. Even Americans get confused by the rules, culture and traditions of the Senate. Instead of requiring an election, our Constitution says that each state decides how its Senators will be chosen. In Kennedy's state, called Massachusetts, the law says that if there is a vacant Senate seat, there is an election after three months. Before his death, Kennedy asked the state government to change the law to let the Governor select a temporary representative until the election is done.

DC: If an election would be held after three months, why did Kennedy think it was important to get another representative for this short period of time?

KW: Because of one very important number in the Senate: Sixty. If Senators want to do anything at all in the Senate, they need to have 60 Senators who agree. Altogether, there are 100 Senators--two for each state. If 41 Senators don't want a bill to move forward, they can stop it. When Kennedy was alive, there were 60 Democrats. When he died, there were only 59 Democrats, which made it difficult for Democrats to do what they wanted in the Senate.

DC: And if the Senate can't do its work, President Obama would fail to pass bills and change America's laws, right?

KW: Exactly. As you know, change laws here in America requires both the Senate and the House of Representatives to pass one identical bill and for the President to approve it as is.

DC: I read something about Kenya's history and I was surprised to see that even Kenya had a Senate and a House of Representatives for a few years. And in the Bomas Constitutional draft of five years ago, some again recommended that there be a Senate. Maybe you can advise us a little about the positives and negatives of this house of Congress.

KW: First, let's remember the reason why we have the system we do here in America. During colonial times, America was not one colony, but 13 colonies. These colonies joined together during the war against British rule. After becoming free, the leaders of the colonies thought they needed to work together. Like the Swahili say, "One finger doesn't kill a louse." During those times, our "louse" was Great Britain. But coming together to form a national government brought up some sensitive issues about how the people should be represented at a national level. Before uniting, each colony had its own government.

DC: And the leaders of states with fewer people wanted each state to be represented equally. Leaders of states with many people wanted to be represented according to the number of people who lived in each state. After some back-and-forth between the states, they agreed that there should be one 'house' that would protect the interests of the states, which is known as the Senate, and another 'house' to protect the interests of the people themselves, which is the House of Representatives.

KW: That's right. And if we look at the writing of those who came to this agreement, the Senate was to make sure that the bills passed by the House of Representatives were appropriate. It is said that our first president, George Washington, said that the work of the Senate was "to cool" legislation, just like a saucer is used to cool hot tea.

DC: Is this true? Does the Senate "cool" legislation?

KW: Without a doubt. The House of Representatives works very differently from the Senate. This 'house' is led by a party leadership. Passing a bill requires the support of just over 50 percent of Representatives. This is the same way that Kenya's Parliament works. When bills pass the House of Representatives, they often go to sit for a long time over at the Senate. Some say that this is a good thing. It prevents bad bills from passing without being carefully considered and requires a lot of people to say that the bills are appropriate.

DC: But others say that it's bad because Senators who represent sparsely populated states can obstruct a president and his party, even if they are really liked by the American people.

KW: That's right. When Bush was president, Republicans complained about Democratic Senators. Similarly, today Democrats complain about Republican Senators. So, the bad thing is that if the president and his party, even if they represent areas with many people, even if the majority of Americans agree with them and their policies, even if all of this is true, if 41 Senators disagree (many of them from sparsely populated states), that's it. It won't be done.

DC: Doesn't this make it difficult to pass legislation.

KW: Yes. The good thing about it is that, for example, if a state isn't liked, it represents a small area, and the philosophy of its people is different than most of the country, its representatives have the power to defend their interests.

DC: Kevin, Thank you for explaining all of this to us.

KW: Thank you. I'm happy to be with you all.