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GOP centrists divided over success of Democratic outreach |
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By Jackie Kucinich
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Posted: 04/23/07 09:21 PM [ET] |
Having been marginalized by conservative Republican leaders in previous Congresses, centrist Republicans are split over whether life is any better under a Democratic majority.
Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill), co-chairman of the Tuesday Group, a collection of centrist Republican lawmakers, said the group and its members had received no formal outreach from Democrats.
“We are solutionists,” Kirk said. He cautioned the Democratic leadership against limiting the minority’s ability to tweak legislation through amendments and motions to recommit.
“I think if the Speaker [continues] to knock down amendments, then the leadership staff is going to have to start guessing right every time. Otherwise they are going to have to watch bills collapse on national television.”
As Kirk sees it, changing rules on matters such as parliamentary procedure could backfire on the majority party: If a majority changes the rules under the assumption it will always stay in the majority, it will create problems as soon as the balance of power shifts — as it always does.
Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) echoed Kirk’s remarks.
“They [Democrats] are not reaching out at all,” Shays said. “There is going to be a time when they are going to have to reach out, but it hasn’t happened yet.”
Rep. Lincoln Davis (D-Tenn.) confirmed that Blue Dog Democrats have not formally reached out to moderates across the aisle. But he said that many bipartisan discussions over bills have occurred within committees.
“There hasn’t been a concerted effort from the Blue Dogs to caucus with moderate Republicans,” Davis said. “But there have been conversations within the committees regarding policy.”
Some Republican moderates agree that behind committee room doors bipartisanship is at work and, in some instances, flourishing.
Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) has had a unique experience with the Democratic majority, thanks to his decision to side with the majority on the non-binding resolution opposing the troop surge for Iraq. Democrats gave him substantial floor time during debate over the bill.
Jones also said that in some cases, he has found it easier to get a chairman’s ear than it was when Republicans wielded the gavels.
“The times I have asked to meet with a chairman, the door has always been open,” Jones said.
He added that Democrats were considering or at least discussing the issues he had wanted to address in previous years. One example is his bill allowing families of members of the military who have died in combat to put their earnings tax-free into a plan similar to a 401(k).
“I could never get to first base with [Rep. Bill] Thomas (R-Calif.) on that issue,” Jones said. In contrast, Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) recently had a staff member meet with Jones about the issue. Jones has had similar success with Judiciary Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.).
Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) said that members of Democratic leadership have included some of the GOP moderates in crafting legislation.
“On the Medicare [Part] D, John Dingell included me a lot,” she said. The Michigan Democrat chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Emerson said she hopes she is allowed to attach her amendments to bills, such as one she introduced on the card-check bill last month. But until then, she said, she is willing to be patient.
Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) said he thought much of the partisanship that came from Democratic leadership has been checked at the committee door.
“I think it’s the front office that is more likely to engage in more extreme partisanship,” he said. By contrast, he noted, Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) has run the Foreign Affairs Committee in a bipartisan manner since taking over the gavel.
Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) said he has been able to contribute heavily on the Intelligence and Armed Services committees, but stressed that those committees have a history of collegiality.
“I don’t really have a good band of reference,” he said.
McHugh said he was concerned about the Democratic leadership’s decision to close rules and other moves to take away rights from the minority party.
“We are already severely limited,” McHugh said. “We still have a right to be heard.” |
