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Members of Congress are often criticized for what they do - or rather, what they don't do. But what about what they say and, more specifically, how they say it? It turns out that the sophistication of congressional speech-making is on the decline, according to the open government group the Sunlight Foundation.

Here's a follow-up on the same study, examining the speech of Hawaii's senators and representatives: http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/157017545.html?id=157017545. U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka speaks at a college sophomore level, according to an analysis of his speeches by the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington group that pushes for government transparency. The analysis ranks Akaka in the top five among members of Congress for his use of longer sentences and more complex words. U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye isn't far behind. His speeches use words and sentences on the level of a college freshman. U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono speaks at the level of a high school senior, while U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa's speeches are at the high school freshman level, according to the study. Of course, longer sentences and more complex vocabulary use don't necessarily make for better communication, nor indicate effectiveness in re: serving one's constituents.

"Some words feature prominently in every US presidential State of the Union message, others come and go as events dictate or fashions change. As President Barack Obama prepares to address Congress, we look at the ups and downs of the 10 nouns and adjectives (and one pronoun) used most often since 1790."

Republicans and Democrats are easily distinguishable through one minute speeches by their vocabulary and phrase use.

An article about Congress's predilection for making bill titles into acronyms, e.g.: - SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) - PROTECT-IP (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property) - E-PARASITE (Enforcing and Protecting American Rights Against Sites Intent on Theft and Exploitation) - REPEAL (Revoke Excessive Policies that Encroach on American Liberties) - BOSS ACT (Better Oversight of Secondary Sales and Accountability in Concert Ticketing)

Author Clive Thompson argues, "The fact that so many of us are writing - sharing our ideas, good and bad, for the world to see - has changed the way we think. Just as we now live in public, so do we think in public. And that is accelerating the creation of new ideas and the advancement of global knowledge." Every day, we collectively produce millions of books' worth of writing. Globally we send 154.6 billion emails, more than 400 million tweets, and over 1 million blog posts and around 2 million blog comments on WordPress. On Facebook, we post about 16 billion words. Altogether, we compose some 3.6 trillion words every day on email and social media - the equivalent of 36 million books.* (The entire US Library of Congress, by comparison, holds around 23 million books.) He notes the Internet has spawned a global culture of avid writers, one almost always writing for an audience, and suggests that writing for a real audience helps clarify one's thinking, enhances learning, and arguably, betters writers' organization, ideas, and attention to editing.

Barack Obama says his address to Congress this year is all about 'finding areas where we agree, so we can deliver for the American people'. And if there's one thing we can all agree upon, it's emojis.

In 2010, then CIA Director, Leon Panetta, urged renewed focus on the critical need for Americans to master foreign languages at a national summit that brought together policymakers, members of Congress, Intelligence Community officials, and leading language educators from across the country. "For the United States to get to where it needs to be will require a national commitment to strengthening America's foreign language proficiency," Director Panetta said. "A significant cultural change needs to occur. And that requires a transformation in attitude from everyone involved: individuals, government, schools and universities, and the private sector." He urged schools and universities to reach beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic to "the fourth R": the reality of the world we live in. Language skills are vital to success in an interconnected world, he said, and they are fundamental to US competitiveness and security.