WASHINGTON - Today, Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Modernization and Innovation Chairwoman Stephanie Bice (OK-05) shared an op-ed on the work the Subcommittee has done to modernize Congress and what more can be done to bring Congress into the 21st century.

Read the full op-ed below or in the Washington Reporter.

Rep. Stephanie Bice: How we are bringing Congress into the 21st century
Chairwoman Stephanie Bice
February 12, 2025

With one month under their collective belts, the 66 new members of the U.S. House of Representatives are now working to fulfill the pledge they took to support and defend the Constitution and to “faithfully discharge the duties of this office.”

While most of the duties assigned to members are standard in scope, the way they “faithfully discharge” these responsibilities reflects the unique nature of the people they represent. Decisions about how to manage casework, what bills to introduce, what policy positions to take, and how to vote are informed and guided by a member’s constituents. The Framers’ vision of the People’s House depended on members giving voice to the people who elected them.

Members also bear an institutional responsibility to ensure that the House works for the American people as a whole. This requires members to uphold the House’s essential role in our government and to jointly prioritize efficiency and effectiveness across all House functions.

The Framers’ understanding of members as both representatives of the people and as stewards of the institution guides modernization efforts in the House. For the past two years, these efforts have centered on strengthening how constituents engage with members, and on modernizing workplace processes and operations so that the House can better serve the American people.

All of this work is led by the Committee on House Administration’s Subcommittee on Modernization and Innovation. This subcommittee is charged with finding bipartisan solutions to the problems that make it challenging for members to work effectively and efficiently on behalf of their constituents. These problems include everything from outdated technologies and processes to overly burdensome rules and regulations to inadequate accommodations for persons with disabilities and more.

Last December, the subcommittee released a report detailing its wide-ranging efforts to improve and modernize the way the House works. These efforts include making it easier for members to help organize and host constituent service events, developing new tools and platforms to improve a range of constituent services, streamlining open-casework transfers from departing members to new members, creating a centrally located, ADA-compliant drop-off and pick-up zone for visitors with disabilities, and ensuring that congressional websites are accessible to the visually impaired. More broadly, the subcommittee is also focused on updating technology and on improving access to the latest digital tools and services.

While much of the subcommittee’s work takes place outside of public view, it serves a critical public purpose. When constituents can more easily access and engage with their members, whether in D.C., the district, or online, the ties between members and the people they represent are strengthened. Preserving this bond is key to upholding the Framers’ vision of the People’s House.

As a new session of Congress gets underway, the subcommittee has renewed its efforts to improve the way Congress works for the American people. Priorities include additional accessibility enhancements to improve the way disabled constituents interact with Congress, modernizing how members engage and communicate with their constituents, and developing new systems to help staff work smarter and more efficiently.

Congress needs to continually evolve if it is to remain an effective and responsive institution. The subcommittee’s work recognizes that the way members represent and legislate on behalf of their constituents must also evolve. This means ensuring that members are equipped to consistently serve and engage with constituents, even as constituent preferences and expectations shift, and the digital landscape transforms. If Congress is to effectively give voice to the people, both the institution and its members must have the ability to adapt and the willingness to change.