Inside look at the works of the 113th Congress

Is the 113th Congress on pace to be the least productive in modern history, with only 15 bills signed into law as it recessed for the Fourth of July holiday? If so, why? And is there anything that can be done about it?

Adas Yoshuron Synagogue of Rockland will host a special conversation and Q & A with returning guest speaker Professor Ross K. Baker Monday, Aug. 12, at 7 p.m. His talk is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a dessert reception.

A professor in the Political Science Department of Rutgers University and a member of the Board of Contributors of USA Today, Baker has made his mark as a student of the U.S. Congress.

He was embedded in the office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid during the 2012 lame duck session of Congress, served on the staffs of Sens. Walter F. Mondale, Birch Bayh, and Frank Church, and was a consultant to the Democratic Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives. He is a regular contributor to the editorial pages of The Los Angeles Times and Newsday, and his commentaries have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. He is also a commentator on NPR’s "All Things Considered." He is author of the forthcoming book "Is Bipartisanship Dead?" (Paradigm).

Adas Yoshuron is located at 50 Willow St. in Rockland. For more information call 594-4523 or email info@adasyoshuron.org.