How Did Congress Reflect The American People

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Historian James MacGregor Burns said that Congressmen and women “are us” he says they reflect the American people. However this does not appear to be true. After researching four congressmen and women of varying parties and genders, all from different states, there is one thing, they all have in common. Each one of them are very wealthy. Darrell Issa is the current wealthiest congressman with Jay Rockefeller, Suzan DelBene and Diane Black not far behind. Can a wealth man who attended some of the top colleges in the world and lives luxuriously really relate to a man who is unemployed without a degree and a wife and kids? Maybe decades ago did Congress reflect the American people, but that is no longer. Darrell Issa, a Republican, is the current California representative and has been since 2001. With an estimated net worth of $450 million, he is the highest ranked member of Congress by wealth. Before being elected, he was a businessman and held the position of CEO of Directed Electronics. He’s Greek Orthodox and is Lebanese, German and Bohemian. His mother was Mormon, while his father was Greek Orthodox. Darrell Issa lived in Issa was a …show more content…
His political career began back when he was the Secretary of State of West Virginia. Senator Rockefeller is the great-grandson of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller. He grew up in NYC, later attending Harvard University, the International Christian University in Tokyo, and Yale University. At Yale his graduate studies consisted of Oriental studies, which included his mastering of the Chinese language. Jay Rockefeller later joined the Peace Corps, closely connecting him to both JFK and RFK. Rockefeller served as Operation Director for the Corp’s largest overseas program and later went on to briefly work for the U.S. department of Far Eastern affairs. He has held over six different offices in his political career and has a net worth of about 100