C-SPAN - 117th Congress
“Unlike on other networks, viewers do get a say in how stories unfold on C-SPAN.”
Title: C-SPAN
Episodes Reviewed: The 117th Congress of the United States (2021 - 2022)
C-SPAN Founder: Brian Lamb 👨🏼🇺🇸
C-SPAN CEOs: Rob Kennedy 👨🏼🇺🇸 and Susan Swain 👩🏼🇺🇸
Reviewed by Dana 👩🏼🇺🇸♿
Technical: 3.5/5
“Democracy isn’t a spectator sport.” It’s an old saying, and it’s true, with one exception: The Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, better known as C-SPAN.
Created in 1979 as a public service, C-SPAN televises United States government proceedings, ranging from daily procedural votes by Congress to special coverage of impeachment and committee hearings, such as those to investigate the January 6th Attack on the Capitol. While much of it tends towards the mundane, it provides insight into the workings of the legislative branch—and, for our purposes at Mediaversity, gives us a reason to review the diversity of Congress ahead of the November 8, 2022 midterm elections.
This governing body deserves at least the same level of scrutiny that we give WandaVision and The Bear, though the standards will have to be a bit different. We’ve reviewed the 117th Congress, whose term spans from January 3, 2021 through January 3, 2022, on its representation of gender, race, and LGBTQ inclusion based on how well it reflects the demographic makeup of the United States, the legislation it has passed to advance the rights of women, minority, and queer people, and how its members represent those demographic groups in terms of leadership and advocacy.
Inclusion matters in movies and TV. But if the leaders of this country don’t reflect the diversity of their constituents, that matters too, if not more.
Gender: 3.5/5
Cisgendered women comprise 27.7% of Congress, perpetually making the name “House of Representatives” representative of the American people in name only. Nonetheless, the United States Congress doesn’t suffer from a lack of compelling characters or strong female leadership: The single most powerful role in the legislative branch is held by Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) 👩🏼, Speaker of the House. Even those with only a passing interest in politics know Pelosi’s name and her central role in nearly everything that goes on in the Capitol. She became the first woman to hold the position in 2006, and after her party lost control of Congress in 2010, she remained a relevant figure. When Democrats retook the House in 2018, members of her party voted—often with great fanfare—to reinstate her to the role. In the midst of the January 6th, 2021 attack on the Capitol, the supremely composed Speaker served a key role in ensuring the continuity of government and ensuring that the certification of the election would continue.
Along with Speaker Pelosi, among the best known members of the House represent the progressive wing, led in part by “The Squad,” originally formed by the four-member cast of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MI) 👩🏾, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) 👩🏾, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) 👩🏾, and breakout star of the 2018 midterm elections, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) 👩🏽, known to fans and haters alike as “AOC.” Following the 2020 elections, newly-elected Missouri Rep. Cori Bush 👩🏾 and New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman 👨🏾 (the Squad’s first male member) joined the ranks. House members self-select into various groups, each called a “caucus,” an informal assemblage of individuals who share an interest in topics with varying degrees of specificity. The Squad and their left-leaning peers of the Democratic Party make up the Progressive Caucus, led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-CA) 👩🏽. The caucus stands as one of the most powerful factions in Congress—and one of the most female-dominated, with Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) 👩🏼 as its vice-chair and Rep. Omar as the caucus whip.
Long-serving members of the House had several rare opportunities to seize on the term’s major storylines, including the two separate impeachments of former President Donald J. Trump 👨🏼 and the investigation into the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) 👩🏼 played a featured role in the first impeachment trial, and Republican Liz Cheney (R-WY) 👩🏼 was one of only a handful of Republican House members to vote in favor of impeaching the former President. Cheney has also changed tack from some of her previous positions opposing civil rights like same-sex marriage and reproductive health, recently abstaining from a vote on abortion rights, supporting access to contraception, and voting to codify same-sex marriage. After defying her party’s leadership and invoking the ire of the increasingly right-leaning members of the Republican Party, including voters in her home state, Cheney lost her recent primary election to a candidate more aligned with the former President.
In contrast to the House, the Senate often suffers functional paralysis as a result of the filibuster—which, if Congress really were a television show, would fall into the category of overused trope and be even more despised than all of Buzzfeed’s least favorites combined. Bills often pass the House only to arrive at the Senate in much the same state as a Shonda Rhimes character that’s run its course (that is to say, doomed to die) and vital issues, including women’s rights, bear the cost. In 2019, Senators Joni Ernst (R-IO) 👩🏼 and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) 👩🏼 held bipartisan talks to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, only for negotiations to fall apart. Finally, four years after the Violence Against Women Act lapsed, Ernst and Feinstein, along with colleagues Dick Durbin (D-IL) 👨🏼 and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) 👩🏼, came back together to reach an agreement to reauthorize it with provisions to strengthen prevention, legal services, and support for LGBTQ victims.
Despite the strength of the women who do serve in Congress, the numbers still reflect a male-dominated institution. The United States continues to lag behind many countries, rich and poor, East and West, on parity in its legislative branch.
Race: 3.75/5
Since the Civil Rights Movement, representation for people of color in Congress has steadily increased within the Democratic Party as it grew incrementally in the Republican Party. Progress has also been lopsided between the two chambers, with the House of Representatives reflecting the racial and ethnic diversity of the United States far better than the Senate has.
The Senate is, however, a diversifying body, with Latino newcomer Alex Padilla (D-CA) 👨🏽 filling the vacancy left by Vice President Harris 👩🏾 in 2020. In the two years since his appointment, Padilla has proven himself as a solid speaker and advocate for legislation to advance civil rights. He supported the John R. Lewis Freedom to Vote Act, named after the late House member John Lewis 👨🏾, a Georgia Democrat and civil rights icon who nearly gave his life while demonstrating in favor of voting rights. During the two days of floor debate over the bill, Padilla gave voice to the challenges faced by Latino voters, while Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) 👨🏽, the highest-ranking Hispanic member of Congress, spoke to the unique obstacles faced by Native voters on reservations, including in his home state. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) 👨🏾, the Republican Party’s lone Black Senator, spoke against the bill.
No image more aptly captured the face of a modern Democratic Party like the cast of the impeachment proceedings. In the first, three of its seven members were Black or Latino: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) 👨🏾, Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) 👩🏼, and Rep. Val Demmings (D-FL) 👩🏾. The second set of nine impeachment managers included Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) 👨🏽, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) 👨🏻, Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO) 👨🏾, and Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-USVI) 👩🏾 of the Virgin Islands. Plaskett’s role was particularly notable given that non-voting members (who represent the five U.S. territories and Washington, D.C.) could not cast a vote on the President’s impeachment. Plaskett and the other non-voting members all represent majority nonwhite populations, including places like Puerto Rico or American Samoa, making the exclusion of their voices particularly egregious.
The 117th Congress reached a significant milestone in recent weeks with the swearing-in of Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola 👩🏽 of Alaska, filling the vacancy left by Republican Don Young 👨🏼, the longest-serving House member in history, who passed away earlier in the year. Rep. Peltola became the first woman and first Alaska Native to represent the state, marking a historic level of representation alongside five other Indigenous Americans in the House.
LGBTQ: 1.5/5
Though she became the first openly bisexual Senator in 2016, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (D-AZ) 👩🏼🌈 offbeat style of dress and self-styled reputation as a maverick only earned her admiration for a short time; in the last two years, she has become a target of ire for many Democrats for her refusal to back key legislation (and for her support of the filibuster). Meanwhile, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) 👩🏼🌈 joined her Democratic colleagues in voting to reform the filibuster. In addition, along with Rep. David Cicciline (D-RI) 👨🏼🌈, Baldwin recently led a group of Senators and members of the House in requesting sufficient funding for programs advancing LGBTQ rights around the world.
The 2020 election did see improvement for queer representation in the House: Rep. Mondaire Jones 👨🏾🌈 and Rep. Ritchie Torres 👨🏾🌈, both Democrats representing New York, became the first two Black, openly gay men to serve in the House of Representatives. Following Congressional redistricting, Jones was forced to choose between facing off with Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) 👨🏼🌈, a gay man and chair of the Democratic Party’s fundraising committee, and Squad member Jamaal Bowman. Jones opted instead to move from Westchester, north of New York City, to Brooklyn to run for an open seat. A variety of factors, including the difficulty progressives faced in rallying behind one candidate in a talented and diverse field, led Democrats to nominate the only straight, white man in the field to represent an area that includes the West Village, site of the 1969 Stonewall rebellion. In January, Rep. Jones will end his tenure as one of just nine openly LGBTQ members in the House of Representatives.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, many Democrats worried for the future of other rights to which privacy is a foundational legal underpinning. A bill which would formally recognize same-sex marriage nationwide passed the House but, due to the filibuster, would require 10 Republican Senators to vote in the affirmative to pass in the Senate. Plans to vote on the bill were postponed until after midterm elections, when proponents hope they will be able to gain support from more Republican colleagues.
Mediaversity Grade: C 3.06/5
Unlike on other networks, viewers do get a say in how stories unfold on C-SPAN. No voter is expected to go to the ballot box with the sole intent of increasing the diversity in Congress, but voters do have an obligation to interrogate their own biases, and whether those biases play an unconscious role in which candidates they support.
An inclusive field of candidates that truly represents voters in both identity and ideology requires participation beyond just the one-time act of casting a vote: It requires fundraising, canvassing, phone and text outreach, self-education (and the educating of others) on the issues at stake. It requires stepping up to ensure that the machinery of democracy runs smoothly by acting as poll workers and election judges where they live. This isn’t the time to sit back and watch.
To check your voter registration status, find your polling place, check what forms of identification you need to vote, or find out about early voting hours where you live, visit canivote.org.
To learn more about what’s on the ballot this election, visit vote411.org.
To sign up to be a poll worker, visit PowerthePolls.org.
To volunteer as an election protection volunteer, sign up with 866-OURVOTE.
To volunteer to drive voters to the polls, sign up with Rideshare2Vote.
To find a voter registration or outreach event near you, check out When We All Vote.
To help get pizza to voters standing in long lines, check out Pizza to the Polls.
To thank your local election workers, participate in Election Hero Day.
For any other questions about voting, elections, Congress, or how you can get involved in making democracy work for everyone, tweet @telefeminism.
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