In our opinion: Election Day 2020 is 400 days away. Can Congress focus on anything but impeachment?

AP

Monday of this week marked 400 days until Election Day 2020. With time quickly ticking away, Americans should demand real action in Washington to address serious issues. The hard work of legislating should be a key to election victory, not political mudslinging or impeachment hearings, important as they may be.

Congress and the president need to address the following:

Immigration: The ongoing problems at the nation’s southern border seem intractable, but with political will, progress could be made in four key areas.

1. Washington should quickly assess the effectiveness of the temporary white-tent courtrooms set up at the border to handle asylum cases. The Deseret News sent a reporter to the border on the day these opened, providing valuable insights to its problems and weaknesses. The system relies on asylum-seekers remaining in Mexico until their cases come up, and that leaves people vulnerable to criminals who aggressively prey on them. Funding a solution that ends the “stay in Mexico” program, or that makes the process safer for families, should be a priority.
2. Millions of undocumented workers already live and work in the United States, but they are forced into the shadows. Congress and the president should finally pass a guest-worker program that rewards people who contribute positively to the economy and allows authorities to easily identify those who are here for nefarious reasons.
3. Congress should negotiate and pass a solution that allows the undocumented children of those who came to this country without papers to remain. President Trump canceled the program known as DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) that protected these people. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a challenge to that decision later this year, but Congress need not wait. These children are Americans in every sense and should be allowed to contribute openly if they can show they have acted responsibly.
4. Secure the border. This doesn’t necessarily mean building a wall, which provides a false sense of security. Congress should allocate greater resources toward border enforcement, and the administration should gain greater cooperation from Mexico to counter cartels, coyotes and others who want access to underground markets in the U.S.

Budget: President Trump signed a continuing resolution last week that keeps the government running until Nov. 21. However, continuing resolutions are a mark of failure. They postpone the real work. Both parties agreed to broad budget outlines earlier this year, but Congress must approve 12 separate appropriations bills to put that plan into practice.

So far, the House has passed 10; the Senate has passed none.

The underlying budget agreement was flawed. It would add trillions to a national debt that already tops $22.6 trillion. The annual federal deficit, meanwhile, has surpassed $1 trillion.

What the American people need is a good dose of austerity from Washington, or at least a sign lawmakers are moving to quell the spending and borrowing spree.

Health care: A complete overhaul of the nation’s expensive and complicated health care system may be impossible in a little more than a year’s time; but Congress could tackle some smoldering problems, such as the opioid epidemic and the dramatic increase in vaping, especially among young people.

The administration recently provided $1.8 billion in grants to help states and cities battle the opioid problem. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received another $900 million to help track the problem and recommend strategies.

Congress could do more to assure addiction treatment. But it also must bear in mind that, used correctly, opioids have tremendous benefits for pain control.

On the subject of vaping, Congress should approve a widespread ban on the products and fund thorough research into their ingredients, making sure that, if they are reintroduced to the marketplace, they are carefully regulated. Recent figures on the number of people injured (805 hospitalized, with 12 deaths) are alarming.

Trade: The biggest trade issue facing Congress is the need to ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada-Agreement, or USMCA. Ratification would ensure a level of stability in supply chains and the exchange of commerce among the three neighboring nations.

Gun violence: Nobody expects a comprehensive gun control package to pass this Congress, but evidence exists that lawmakers could compromise on a measure to expand background checks. Clear and concise support for this from the president likely would get the job done.

Foreign policy: The world is a dangerous place, and Congress should be heavily engaged in matters as far-flung as diplomacy with North Korea, redrafting a nuclear treaty with Iran and working with China to resolve questions concerning the South China Sea and Hong Kong.

The president and the executive branch negotiate with foreign powers, but Congress should play an active role in influencing the direction of those efforts.

These items make for an ambitious 400-day agenda. While the House may occupy itself with impeachment hearings, seeking important answers to troubling recent allegations, that should not be allowed to dominate every working hour until Election Day.

If so, America’s representatives will have failed their constituents.

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