In his Dec. 27 letter (“ ‘Hunter Biden’s Laptop’ will not reverse Trump’s loss”), Jeremy Smith placed in perspective the alleged misdeeds of Hunter Biden, the president’s son. Should investigating them be a priority for the next Congress?

In public statements outlining their priorities when they control the House, Republicans are most enthusiastic about their plans to conduct investigations. I don’t object, in principle, to Congress investigating alleged corruption, but we do have a criminal justice system to hold people accountable for wrongdoing. In fact, Hunter Biden is already under federal investigation, led by a Trump appointee, for possible crimes.

Republicans are less informative about their legislative agenda. The country has many pressing needs not being addressed. Perhaps Republicans should order their priorities to reflect this and consider how they might use their newly obtained power to make our world a better place.

One thing needing attention is immigration: how to manage the large number of desperate migrants seeking asylum at our southern border. Republicans frequently complain that the president is handling this poorly, but they should understand that any solution will require new resources – a funded program that only Congress can provide.

If Republicans were sincere in their concern about this, and other problems Democrats might be neglecting, they would write their own legislation and then compromise with Democrats as necessary to pass it in the Senate and persuade the president to sign it. This is how governance in our democracy should work. They might discover it to be the most gratifying way to exercise political power.

Michael P. Bacon
Westbrook

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