An Article for the Woodrow Wilson International Center*s newsletter Centerpoint

WASHINGTON, D.C.—In my first six months in CongressI have experienced more than I ever imagined. It is a tremendous honor to serve in the House of Representatives and to debate and vote daily on how best to spend a $2 trillion budget and to decide what policies will keep America globally competitive and prosperous. And it is especially fascinating for someone like myself, who has an inquisitive mind, and who constantly wants to know how things work and why they happen.
I arrived here in Congress with over twenty years of experience as an entrepreneur and businessman and passportsfull of visas from travel promoting a product that is sold in more than two dozen countries. The few glimpses I have had of Washington came from myexperience with the Woodrow Wilson International Center andworking to promote my own industry through the Consumer Electronics Association.

Many of my colleagues have a different background. They are very skilled politicians whohave a fundamental understandingof the legislative process - skillsI am learning on the job. However, service in Congress doesn*t give onea great appreciation for the challenges of building a business, achievements intechnological innovation, orthe realities of competing in an increasingly competitive global market.

Government and legislative decision makers need greater exposure and experience in areas of business, trade, and technology. The broadband debate over the future of high-speed internet access underscores the point. Lawmakers get much of their information from lobbyists representing various interests - people who know more about the legislative process than they do about technology and the marketplace. I soon realized that, prior to the current debate, many of them would have guessed that a reference to the "last mile" was a movie title, rather than a crucial point of contention among the Baby Bells and competing high-speed internet service providers.

Last year, I spoke at length with Woodrow Wilson International Center Director of Development, Fred Bush, about thecritical need to keep decision makers in Congress and in the Executive Branch current on the challenges and opportunities new technologies create inthe global marketplace.I shared withAmbassador Bush my belief that theCenter was well positioned, because of its excellent reputationfor scholarship,toclose the"technology gap" that handicapsour nations decision makers.

Let*s get Bill Gates, Andy Grove, Scott McNeely, Larry Ellison, andAOL*s Steve Case in aroom and listen to them talk about the future ofbroadband and the internet.Ninety minutes of their discussion would be more informative and insightful than athousand lobbyists and a flurry of "Dear Colleague" letters from Members of Congress.

(Congressman Darrell Issa is currently serving his first term in Congress representing California’s 48th District. He is founder of California-based Directed Electronics, Inc. and past chairman of the Consumer Electronics Association.)

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