First-time U.S. House members discuss the future of representation in Congress
A trio of history-making members of Congress sat down earlier this month to talk about young people and voting, the Republican House majority, and the Biden administration.
Appearing at the 2023 South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival on March 11, Reps. Greg Casar, Maxwell Frost and Delia C. Ramirez spoke with The Atlantic’s Andrea Valdez about being newly elected officials and the pressures of representing underserved communities in Congress.
Ramirez marked the first Latina to be elected in the Midwest, Cesar became the first Latino from the Austin area elected to Congress, and Frost has become known as the first Gen-Z and Afro-Cuban member of Congress.
It isn’t just the new members of Congress, the session made some history of its own when it took 15 roll calls to determine the next Speaker of the House.
"Essentially, it was a small number of members of Congress that were willing to use these tactics to hold the whole Congress hostage over the speaker vote," said Casar.
That debacle taught the new lawmakers the weight of their work, and how a failure to act could bring the country to a standstill.
"[The Republican majority] can basically hold the whole global economy hostage using the same tactics," Casar said, pointing to the debt ceiling debate.
The future of youth in U.S. politics
From Frost’s perspective, the United States isn’t anywhere close to where it should be when it comes to representation, not just in Congress but also at the state and local levels.
Young people might make up one-third of the American population, but as Frost pointed out, they’re far from making up one-third of members of Congress.
"I think it’s important to have that representation at the table, not purely for representation’s sake, but to have policy that’s crafted through lived experience," Frost said.
When people from past generations talk about the defining moments in their lives, Frost noted that many will point to the 1969 moon landing or how the U.S. came together in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
"If you ask Gen Z, you’ll get Parkland, Pulse, George Floyd, death and trauma," he said.
But even though young people in America have seen their generation defined by trauma, Frost added that it’s created a "righteous anger that we’ve transformed into a radical love."
To Frost, Gen Z "spans the spectrum of ideology."
Asked about the difficulties of engaging young people to vote, Frost pointed out that Gen Z and young millennials are voting in higher numbers than any other generation in American history. In fact, the 2020 presidential election saw the highest ever youth voter turnout.
"That's because of social movements that have pushed them to a place where they're using their power at the ballot box, on the streets, in the arts and culture, and seeing the value in every single aspect of our movement," he said.
Part of the responsibility Frost feels is prioritizing issues that affect young people in America, whether they’re old enough to vote or not. These priorities include fighting the climate crisis, ending gun violence, and making health care accessible to everyone.
When it comes to critiquing their own party, the three Democrats pointed to the Biden administration’s actions on immigration.
Calling the president bold, progressive, and pro-worker, Frost referred to Biden’s lack of action as "concerning" and "disappointing," particularly in light of recent reporting that showed the administration is considering reviving a policy to incarcerate migrants and their children.
Moving past the ‘first and only’ phase of history
To Ramirez, the celebration of making history is often overshadowed by the absence of others like her at the table.
"The fact that Latinos make up more than 50 million people in this country, and only 20 of us are in Congress, shows us that we still have a long way to go," she said. "We have to make sure that we get to a place where we're no longer having to celebrate first and only because we are everywhere we have to be."
She also highlighted the need to be intentional in policymaking, given that, as historic members of Congress, they ultimately don’t represent an entire generation.
"I don’t represent Latinas in the Midwest," she said. "But it is our responsibility that we’re bringing them with us to Congress every time we walk through that door."
Navigating a Congress with no common ground
One of the most difficult aspects of being a congressman, for Casar, is how difficult it can be to negotiate with an opposition that has no intention of finding common ground.
"If we think we're actually negotiating with someone, but they have incentives to tell falsehoods and permanent lies, then you're playing a different game," Casar said.
But while it may be a slippery slope, he added that propaganda and misinformation have always been right at home in Congress, from preventing Black people from voting to having segregated water fountains in the Capitol Building.
"We’ve got to preserve our planet and democracy so they can be in charge," Casar said.
Casar brought up President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness legislation, a move championed by young people and youth movements, and the legal challenge against it that could soon make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"It’s something that really could change people's lives," Casar said. "But I also see how much the system is built to stop good things from happening — not just to block good things but also to stop people from believing that they can make a change."
Those limitations, Casar worries, could keep young people from participating in their democracy and create a new generation of political apathy.