Congress continues to have the lowest approval rating in history, and so many of my colleagues in Washington wonder why.

A perfect example of why Americans continue to mistrust and disapprove of Congress is their handling of the immigration debate.  Many, like me, want to address our illegal immigration problem with a series of targeted reforms – not a massive-paged “comprehensive bill” forced quickly into law. We’ve all seen that before.  It’s how Obamacare passed and many who didn’t read the bill before voting for it are still finding out what was in it.  Sadly, so are the American people.

Last week, when I started asking colleagues to join my letter to Speaker Boehner asking him to approach any immigration reform in a deliberate, transparent approach, liberal Democrats attacked the idea in a purely arrogant and partisan fashion.  This behavior represents Washington’s failings.  They don’t debate the merits of issues or positions, instead they mock and promote a quick groupthink culture to position themselves as inside the group and their opponents outside it.

Frankly, I’m comfortable outside the arrogant groupthink crowd.  Louisianans don’t like the Senate immigration bill.  They want targeted reforms and they want the policies debated out in the open.

I may not be “hip” with the Washington crowd because I support these positions, but the DC partisans can have their world of backslapping.  I will continue to push for Louisiana values.