Politics & Power Quote by Jo Ann Davis

“Make this institution run correctly” is the kind of Washington phrasing that sounds like a maintenance request and doubles as an indictment. Jo Ann Davis is talking about ethics reform, but the real move is rhetorical: she frames corruption not as a partisan scandal but as a mechanical failure. Congress isn’t morally adrift; it’s malfunctioning. That choice matters. It lets a politician call for reform without sounding self-righteous or accusatory toward specific colleagues, while still conceding the public’s suspicion that something is broken.

The timing, “as we enter into the 110th Congress,” signals a reset button. New session, new rules, clean slate. It’s a classic institutional rebirth narrative that tries to convert voter disgust into procedural action: tweak the rules, tighten oversight, restore legitimacy. “Imperative” does heavy lifting too. It’s urgency without specificity, a way to sound serious while leaving room for negotiation once cameras are off.

The subtext is reputational triage. Mid-2000s Congress was swimming in ethics headlines and lobbying controversies; even lawmakers not personally implicated had incentives to perform concern. Davis’ language suggests an awareness that the institution’s credibility had become a governing problem, not just a PR problem. “Run correctly” is also quietly conservative: it implies Congress has a proper mode, a baseline of normalcy worth returning to, rather than a system requiring reinvention. The quote is less a manifesto than a disciplined signal to constituents: we hear you, we’re tightening the bolts.