We are no strangers to contentious political battles. As former majority leaders in the U.S. Senate from opposing parties, we used to wage them. But for all our differences, that never stopped us from being able to collaborate productively with the other side on common interests and tackle challenges facing our nation.
That’s why we believe that it’s so imperative for the new Congress and the Biden administration to cooperate, not only to ease suffering and end this pandemic, but to stop the drift toward mistrust in government among the electorate, which boiled over into disturbing acts of insurrection earlier this month when rioters attacked the Capitol in a troubling assault that left five dead.
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To that end, we have a few suggestions from our own time in the Senate to help members of Congress, and especially congressional leadership, rise to the occasion.
The first is to foster regular communication between the parties. The tone at the top will determine the tenor of party relations. Right off the bat, President Biden can foster a culture of openness and collaboration by meeting with congressional leadership on a weekly basis. Members of both parties’ leadership teams should also meet with each other and encourage their rank and file to talk to their counterparts actively on both sides of the aisle. Holding joint leadership meetings and joint caucuses every month can go a long way in brokering more compromises. The biggest mistake a party can make is to wait to reach across the aisle until a major piece of legislation is on the agenda. If you can’t talk through the little stuff, you’ll never be able to talk through the big stuff.
We have not stopped embracing this mantra. Over the past few months, for instance, the two of us have worked alongside former elected officials from both sides of the aisle, Cabinet secretaries, retired military brass, and civic leaders as part of the National Council on Election Integrity to achieve a simple but vital purpose: defending our elections and restoring faith in our political system. While our partisan allegiances differed — some council members are Democrats, others Republicans — there was never a doubt that our deepest allegiance was to preserving democracy. Members of Congress, likewise, should always be working to find common ground — you never know where new alliances will blossom.
Our second suggestion is really a reminder: Don’t give up on compromise before you’ve started. For instance, in 2003, Congress was trying to pass the Medicare Modernization Act. Support for the bill didn’t cleave along traditional party lines. Some Republicans believed it increased entitlement spending by too much, and some Democrats believed it didn’t go far enough. Although one of us, Sen. Tom Daschle, didn’t vote for it, we didn’t stonewall each other or let our differences sour party relations. In fact, members of both parties stayed engaged in the process and kept refining the bill, even when they disagreed with it. Compromise is not capitulation; it is the oxygen of democracy.
Third, and most importantly, it is vital that lawmakers recognize the humanity in their opponents and in their constituents. During the thick of the 24-hour news cycle and the daily grind of Washington politics, it is easy to ascribe malintent to the person standing across the aisle. But at the end of the day, though lawmakers might disagree on the issues, they should all share a fundamental desire to help the public.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that has left more than 400,000 dead, many people have taken care of their neighbors, protested injustice, and made immense sacrifices to keep others safe. They’ve upheld their civic duty and their duty to one another. Now, it’s time for members of Congress to do the same. Take it from two former adversaries-turned-collaborators: It is now more important than ever to show the world that it is possible for cross-partisan cooperation to be the norm in Washington.
Tom Daschle is a former Democratic senator from South Dakota. Bill Frist is a former Republican senator from Tennessee. Both served as majority leader of the U.S. Senate, and both are members of the National Council on Election Integrity.
