If we’re talking specifically about the United States Congress then your notion of the members not entirely getting new technology is a shared one. Republican Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) famously referred to the Internet as a “series of tubes” on the senate floor, for which he was mocked through social media.

So while it may truly seem that the modern Congress is out of touch it’s worth noting that it hasn’t always been this way. In 1972, Congress established the Office of Technology Assessment, a non-partisan congressional board with the mandate to keep both houses of congress up to date on technical developments both by the US private and public sectors as well as the efforts of the rest of the world. It was, roundly, a success: Much of the technology that the government uses today was first brought to congressional attention by this office, and much of that technology made its way into our general lives. Small batch digital publishing of documents, something we all take for granted every day, was actually in use by the US Government earlier than most others widely thanks to efforts of the office.

Then in 1994, led by Newt Gingrich, the GOP took over both houses of Congress and set out to make some drastic changes that we can still feel the ripples from today. One of those changes was cancelling the OTA, as some members of the GOP felt that it was unnecessary, redundant, and biased against them in some ways. It was de-funded, which essentially caused it to disappear.

There have been recent efforts, though, to revive the office. “Series of tubes”-like sentiments from members of Congress, as well as their apparent lack of understanding the nuances inherent with principles such as Net Neutrality and the effects of Chinese cyber-jackings, have left many wondering, as you do in your question, OP, why the people elected to represent them can’t seem to program their collective and metaphorical VCR.