Every time questions arise about the advanced age of America's elected leaders, Washington responds with the same familiar refrain: Experience matters.

Republicans say it. Democrats say it. Editorial writers repeat it. Longevity in office, we're told, produces wisdom, steadier judgment and better public policy.

It's an appealing argument. It also invites a simple question: If experience matters so much, where are the results?

Experience can absolutely be an asset. A seasoned physician has seen diseases a younger doctor has not. A veteran CEO has navigated recessions and market upheavals. A career military officer possesses judgment that cannot be taught in a classroom. But in every profession, experience is valued because it is expected to produce better outcomes.

We don't celebrate years on the job. We celebrate what those years have accomplished.

Congress, however, seems to be the one institution where longevity itself has become the credential. That would be easier to accept if Congress were producing exceptional results.

Instead, today's Congress is among the oldest in American history. The median senator age is about 65 years old, and the median House member age is nearly 58. Roughly 120 members of Congress are now over the age of 70, with nearly 20 over 80. Compared with the Congresses of the 1980s or even 2000, today's institution is markedly older.

Age itself isn't the........

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