I just returned from a U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress “Congress to Campus” visit to Cabrini College located in Radnor, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. Cabrini is a Catholic liberal arts college with over 3,100 students. Cabrini was among the first colleges in the nation to make community service part of its curriculum. Congressman Jim Lloyd, an old and dear friend, a former Navy fighter pilot and Democratic congressman from California, made the trip with me.

I had the privilege to meet the new President of Cabrini College during her trip through Florida some months ago. Dr. Marie George is a real dynamo and superb leader. She intrigued me with what she was doing at the college, trying to get all the students involved in not just learning, but in giving back to the community.  She has instilled a new spirit in her students and professors. You can feel, see and hear the change in the many classes and meetings we had.

The students were interested in a series of subjects. The question that was asked in every class was about the economy, and more specifically the job market. All of the young people were aware that there is high unemployment and that jobs are not plentiful. They asked what we thought. We said that it is a tough economy; it appears to us that it has started to turn, but it will take two to three years to get the unemployment rate down to 6%. Our advice to them was simple. If you don’t have the inside track on a good job figure a way to stay in school. Get your Master’s Degree. Work toward your Doctorate. Do something that will occupy you for the next two years. At that time there will be a lot more jobs and you will have many more choices.

Another issue was: why is the Congress so partisan and why is there not a bi-partisan effort to make things better. We pointed out to the students that it seems that many members have forgotten that when members of the Congress get sworn in they take an oath to the Constitution to preserve, protect and defend it against all enemies foreign and domestic, and not to the Republican or Democratic party. However, there are other reasons why this problem has developed. The first is reapportionment. Political parties in each state have a lot to say and have created safe districts where you really have to mess up to lose. The parties many times control who gets the nomination because they can generate massive funding. The Republican Party in most states is more conservative than the average Republican voter and the Democratic Party in most states is more liberal than the average Democratic voter. Therefore, you end up with the parties putting money in and backing the candidates who are further to the right or to the left leaving little ground for compromise when they get to Washington.

Also there is a lot more at stake than when I was in the leadership in Congress. The Democrats were in control and were not threatened. Today both parties have had a taste of power and like being in charge. Each major vote is scrutinized to see if this could be the vote that changes the balance of power. Even though the Democrats presently have a large majority in the House, the recent election in Virginia and New Jersey are worrisome. Finally, because of the congressional schedule, where in most cases you come in on Tuesday, have a few votes, meet early and work late on Wednesday and leave Thursday, people don’t get to know each other.

Another issue was concern over international events, especially in Afghanistan and Pakistan. There was not much discussion about Iraq or Iran. Some of the students have relatives in the military in Afghanistan or relatives and friends going in the next few months. The opinions, as you would expect about the war, were all over the place, except that most of the students wondered why it was taking President Obama so long to make up his mind. My response was that this is a difficult issue. You can’t look at Afghanistan without looking at Pakistan. If Afghanistan goes it puts Pakistan in jeopardy and the thought of turning over atomic weapons and the means to deliver them to Al-Qaeda or the Taliban is frightening. The tenor of these conversations, as it should be, was thoughtful. No one was shouting or screaming when someone had a different opinion. All hoped that what President Obama finally decides will work.

The health care legislation was another topic discussed at some length. I could give no logical reason to students why we had major legislation being worked on behind closed doors. The 1900 page House Legislation costing over 1 trillion dollars is just one part of the puzzle. Many of the students were not worried about insurance for themselves, but for their families. As with young people, nearly all are in good shape and fortunately don’t need major medical care.

Congressman Lloyd and I would ask during each session if anyone would be interested in going to Washington to work. Close to 40% of the federal employees will retire in the next five years. We need bright, young people, not only in Washington as staff members, but to run for offices at different levels. We said that the political world gives you more power to do good than anything that we have ever found. It also, with the wrong people, gives you more power to do bad than anything we have ever found. These students are part of the millennial generation who in a few years will represent 85 million potential voters. They will dictate who will be President by the year 2016. I don’t see these students in anyone’s camp. They look at what is going on and are not overly impressed. Both parties have a lot of work to do to earn their trust, respect and vote.

It was a great trip to Cabrini. Special thanks goes to Dr. Jim Hedtke (Political Science Chair at Cabrini) and Tracy Fine (Senior Program Officer at USAFMC) who set up the trip. Congressman Lloyd and I only hope that the students got half as much out of it as we did.

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Lou Frey represented East and Central Florida in the U. S. Congress from 1969 to 1979.  He was the fourth Republican elected to Congress from Florida since the late 1800's.  In his last election, he received nearly 80% of the vote.  He was one of five elected Republican leaders in the House of Representatives during the 93^rd and 94^th Congress.  He served on...