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Congress left Washington D.C. on October 3 and is off campaigning until after the election. But could they do more, even return to office before November 12? At a political campaign event in Columbus, Georgia, I interviewed Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth and Representative Sanford Bishop to find out what could, and should, be done.

When I asked Senator Duckworth about hurricane relief, she said “Disaster relief is not just these hurricanes,” she explained. “There are also victims of California wildfires, and what happened in New York [with flooding] and many of them still need aid.” She was concerned that Republicans in Congress might stall the aid.

Congressman Sanford Bishop told about his tour of some of the hardest hit areas in Georgia with Republican Representative Austin Scott and both Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. “The President saw the damage and is committed to helping fast,” Bishop said as he emphasized the need for expedited aid, waiving some of the requirements that slow things down, and providing more flexibility.

“The ball’s in Speaker Johnson’s court,” Bishop added. “He must organize his caucus to make this happen.” Sure enough, despite bipartisan support for more, House Speaker Mike Johnson said that additional requests for aid funds would be “premature,” according to MSNBC.

Bishop noted that a fair amount of the disaster relief is tied up in the Farm Bill which would provide increased access to crop insurance. According to the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, only 13 percent of farms were enrolled in a crop insurance plan as of two years ago. Most of those enrolled in the program are among the biggest farms with the deepest pockets, who can afford the insurance. Many farmers want access to this safety net, but it’s often a case of how the program was originally designed that holds them back.

“Democrats support the crop insurance,” Senator Duckworth insisted. “And our farmers need it. But it’s stalled in the Senate in a battle over SNAP benefits. Some Republicans want to eliminate those, and there’s no way Democrats will support that. Those benefits are vital for farmers too.”

Senator Duckworth told the crowd at the campaign about being on food stamps, and what it meant to run out. She also emphasized her education. “We don’t want free college. Students want their work-study, and to earn their degree.” She also discussed her after-school job in this context. In her speech, Senator Duckworth criticized proposed cuts to veterans’ benefits in Project 2025, reducing maternal mortality rates through the MAMA Act, and not repeating 1/6.

I moved the subject to foreign policy, given that the Middle East War has escalated with Israel hitting Hezbollah for their support of Hamas. Iran launched tons of rockets and missiles at Israel, but the Americans and Israelis intercepted the vast majority of them. One Iranian missile that got through actually killed a Palestinian.

When asked what the United States can do, Senator Duckworth replied “We have to get that ceasefire in the Middle East, along with the release of the hostages. Iran doesn’t want peace, which is why they are trying to widen the war.”

Hopefully this hurricane relief, farm bill, and response to Iran won’t turn in to what happened to the border bill, where both parties worked out a compromise for a solution, only to have politics and hyper-partisans undermine it. America is better than that.