The Waxman Report: How Congress Really Works (Hardcover)

~ Henry Waxman (Author), Joshua Green (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After 35 years in the House of Representatives, Waxman, the mustached congressman from California, offers a very readable insider's account of his 35 years in the House. The longtime governmental watchdog crusaded for AIDS awareness, the Clean Air Act and stronger tobacco regulations as chairman of the Health and Environment subcommittee. The book chronicles the strategies and horse trading necessary to enact these regulations, including coalition building, raising public awareness and remaining informed on the countless issues affecting his constituency. Waxman doesn't romanticize his position, and admits that the qualities that have best served him have been patience, a knack for finding allies... and the ability to persevere. His conviction that government can better the lives of citizens is uplifting and strengthened by his record of implementing landmark legislation. The book frequently reads too much like a civics lesson to be fully engrossing, but the explanation of the workings of a widely misunderstood government body is a public service from a committed civil servant. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From The Washington Post

From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Henry Waxman is to Congress what Ted Williams was to baseball -- a natural. As you read this nicely proportioned, fast- paced book, you realize that Waxman was born to be a member of the House, ideally the chairman of an important committee. He's just five-foot-five, he's woefully short of hair, he's neither charming nor funny, but none of that has mattered. Waxman has been one of the most effective members of Congress for 35 years. Ego can be the fuel on which the legislative branch runs, and Waxman is in no danger of running out of gas. He makes this clear in the first pages of his book, ably co-authored by Joshua Green, a senior editor of the Atlantic Monthly: "Nearly every worthwhile fight in my career began with my being badly outmatched," Waxman confides. "The other guys always have more money. That's why Congress is so important. Run as it should be, it ensures that no special interest can ever be powerful enough to eclipse the public interest." This is the voice of David, whose career has featured the slaying of one Goliath after another. That is the theme of this book, which in fact does not explain "how Congress really works," but rather tells engaging stories about how Henry Waxman has made Congress work, sometimes, for the causes he has embraced. Of course, Congress has seldom ensured that the public interest prevails over special interests -- quite the opposite. But Waxman has indeed been responsible for some important moments when a version of the public interest did prevail. In these pages Waxman teaches the importance of good staff work, patience and the willingness to make unexpected alliances to advance your causes. He believes in oversight hearings, Congress's most basic tool, but one that has fallen into disrepair through disuse. He begins and almost ends the book with what must have been his favorite hearing of all time, one he held on April 14, 1994. On that occasion Waxman presided over the self-immolation of the seven chief executives of America's biggest tobacco companies, who, despite mountains of compelling evidence to the contrary, testified unpersuasively, under oath, that they never believed smoking cigarettes was addictive. This hearing helped destroy the reputation of American tobacco companies and surely contributed to new controls on smoking and the mammoth tobacco settlement with the states in the years that followed. Waxman's accomplishments are impressive. With symbolic support from Ryan White, a 13-year-old who contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion, Waxman pushed federal aid for victims of the disease through Congress, over ferocious, homophobic opposition from conservative members. His legislation banned smoking on airplanes; his bill forced food manufacturers to list ingredients on processed foods. On all of these occasions he built alliances, often bipartisan alliances, that made victory possible. Waxman sees his victories as evidence that Congress is a force for good, but he refuses to acknowledge the role of Congress in undermining its own standing in the country. Instead, he blames Watergate and the Vietnam War for producing "such widespread disillusionment with government that the American people eventually lost faith in the Congress as well." But the corrosive influence of money and lobbying and the failure of one Congress after another to address the country's biggest problems have done much more to undermine the reputation of our legislative branch than Watergate and Vietnam. To his credit, as the new chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Waxman is currently addressing one of the nation's most complex crises: climate change. "The Waxman Report" explains, at least, how Congress can work, and it is fun to read. You finish it with gratitude to the voters of Beverly Hills who keep returning this ornery fellow to the House. More Henry Waxmans on both sides of the aisle would give us a much better Congress than the one we've got.
Copyright 2009, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Twelve; 1 edition (July 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446519251
• ISBN-13: 978-0446519250
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,746 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Power of Being Right, July 4, 2009

By	P. Lester - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Facts are stubborn things." It's a quote variably attributed to Mark Twain, John Adams, and the French novelist Alain-Rene Lesage (if Wikipedia serves me). Whatever its origins, it is an apt phrase to describe the theme of Henry Waxman's new book, "The Waxman Report: How Congress Really Works."

Most books of this genre are notable for their cynicism about Washington, including its supposedly pervasive corruption and the power of money. Set against that backdrop, Waxman, a 34-year veteran of the House of Representatives and one of its most powerful members, must come across as hopelessly naïve. He's not.

In fact, Waxman spends most of the book describing a little known truth about Washington: that it is actually dominated by people who love their country and are trying their best to do the right thing. They may not always be good at it, they may sometimes disagree with one another, and they may choose to score points on each other. But at the end of the day most, or at least enough, are committed public servants dedicated to the common good (or at least wish to be perceived that way) that productive policies get enacted. That's why moneyed interests so often lose.

Waxman's book is basically a collection of stories describing such occasions. The stories range from reauthorizing the Clean Air Act, to regulating tobacco, to fighting the petro-chemical industry over pesticides, and more. In each case, Waxman won by researching the issues and marshalling solid evidence. Facts and good policy won the day, if not immediately, then eventually.

In each of these efforts, Waxman was aided by solid staff work, which anyone who works in Washington (I do) knows is critical. Waxman says as much himself ("I have always felt that the key to success in legislation is having the best staff possible"), though the quote is taken from the acknowledgements, not the book itself. Waxman's staff did investigative research, wrote and released reports, developed relationships with other staff inside agencies and with whistleblowers who leaked them information, and negotiated with other congressional staff to work out the details of complex bills. Waxman actually admonishes himself for "getting ahead" of his staff on an FDA bill, a mistake he says that others usually make to their own detriment.

Waxman doesn't really make this point, but values are as important as facts. Human beings are complicated because we are capable of selfless acts in pursuit of a greater good. The book describes countless occasions where his efforts were aided by such acts. His campaign against the tobacco industry was aided by people inside leaking confidential memos. His work on drug use in Major League Baseball was helped by players who outed themselves because they felt it was the right thing to do. When the Reagan administration took the wrong position on an environmental or health issue, whistleblowers from inside the agency would leak information that undermined the administration's case. Even top-level administration officials took major risks, as was the case with C. Everett Koop and AIDS.

The combined power of facts and values have made possible every important advance described in this book -- and many, many more. Without them, we would not have the environmental laws that we have today. We would not have consumer laws, or laws providing health insurance for the poor, or any other legislation that pitted powerful, moneyed special interests against the public interest. And yet those laws exist. While not perfect, their very existence is evidence of the power of the public interest and the common good.

This view is not widely shared. Robert G. Kaiser, associate editor of The Washington Post and author of "So Damn Much Money: The Triumph of Lobbying and the Corrosion of American Government," wrote the review of this book for the Post. In it, Kaiser writes, "Congress has seldom ensured that the public interest prevails over special interests -- quite the opposite." And yet, just a few sentences later, Kaiser concedes that Waxman "managed to push pesticide legislation through the Congress when it was controlled by anti-regulatory Republicans." I wonder how?

I should acknowledge that I reviewed Kaiser's own book critically because I disagreed with him on this point. It may seem sophisticated to adopt such cynical views. But anyone who has observed the incredibly long hours put in by dedicated public servants on both sides of the aisle in pursuit of good public policy knows otherwise. They are not all angels, but neither are they all rogues, and good usually does win in the end.

If I have one criticism of Waxman's book, though, it's that he fails to sufficiently acknowledge the contribution of public interest groups to the victories he describes (I work for one of them). Legislation like the Clean Air Act, consumer laws, the tobacco deal, and laws providing health care to the poor owe a lot to these groups, but they warrant barely a mention in the book. Waxman's primary observation of them is that they (we) are a bit too purist, which is actually true in many cases. But we also do a lot to push the ball down the field. Earlier in the book, Waxman talks about the importance of out-organizing the opposition. Public interest groups play an important part in that equation.

Something else worth noting is Waxman's somewhat dated view of organizing. Earlier in the book, he talks about driving across California in a battered old Buick to organize the state's Young Democrats in the 1960s. That was a long time ago. These days, a lot of organizing happens online, both among the public interest organizations and also the bloggers. These tools and tactics helped get Barack Obama elected president.

Given that Waxman is now chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and thus a major player in health care reform, he would be well served by renewing his commitment to organizing and coming up to speed on the latest tactics. But then again, his staff can probably help him with that.

Overall, Waxman's book is refreshing, both for its idealism and its realism. It is not just a tale of how Washington should work, but how it really does.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Citizen's Guide To Good Government, July 7, 2009

By	Paul Johnson "Econowonk" (Lansing, MI) - See all my reviews

- Why did we ever believe cigarettes were safe, and when did that fallacious idea end?

- How did we end up with nutritional facts on food labels?

- What ever happen to the problem of acid rain?

- When did research and private sector creation of drugs for orphan diseases like Huntington's Disease begin to flourish?

- Why is there less smog over cities today than there was in the 1970s?

Many of these answers, to some extent or another, can be traced back to the work of Henry Waxman. In this tour de force book about Congress, Henry Waxman seeks not to celebrate personal success, but to highlight that government can be a source of good. Not to celebrate government generally, but to set out examples where government played its role effectively. Not to push a liberal agenda, but to show how many bipartisan ideas that were once controversial, are no longer considered twice.

If you are a policy wonk, a legislative watcher, or a political junkie this book is for you, but most of all this book is for citizens who want to actively understand and take part in their democracy. That is the major point of my review, but let me illustrate it with an example.

In the early 1980s Waxman's Congressional office received a call from a constituent who had a son with Tourette's Syndrome. The drug he needed was available in Canada, but not available in the United States because it was not profitable enough. As Waxman's staff received other calls and sought out other folks who were sick, they realized there were ten's if not hundreds of other "orphan diseases" that were affecting many people but were not profitable enough.

Waxman responded with legislation that credit a 50% tax credit for research costs (I could be a little off on this exact detail), that streamlined and reformed the expensive FDA approval process because of the small research pool, and expanded grants for research for these diseases. From this legislation hundreds of drugs have come forth, many many small biotechnology companies have been created, and countless lives have been saved. Was this all because of Henry Waxman and government action? No, but their actions substantially moved efforts in the right direction. And as someone who has a Father with one of those "Orphan Diseases" - Huntington's Disease, - I am thankful that this action was taken.

The moral of the story and the reason to read the book is that all of our voices matter, and that if we speak up and if we speak loud enough with enough voices, we will be heard.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars superb, July 14, 2009

By	zomax "zomax" - See all my reviews

One of the first things that struck me about this book is its lucidity. The prose is swift and penetrating, and a pleasure. The importance of this is that it supports such a very important message, that the US government actually can work, and it is persons of intellect, drive, and caring that are the ones who can make it work. The problem is the ever present corruption and cynicism of many of those in power, both in government and industry, and Waxman/Green do a thoroughly compelling job of spelling out how one can triumph in a cesspool. What I also find so interesting about all this, is that Waxman is called a liberal by everyone (conservatives generally despise him), but his agenda is to make government serve the people, make the lives of Americans better, and to make government, its elected officials, and industry executives accountable for their actions. So then what does the other side of the aisle want?