ICYMI: Menendez: Finding a ‘Gang of 60’ in the Senate

ICYMI: Menendez: Finding a 'Gang of 60' in the Senate

ICYMI: Menendez: Finding a 'Gang of 60' in the Senate

Monday, January 29, 2018

ICYMI: Menendez: Finding a 'Gang of 60' in the Senate

NEWARK, N.J. - U.S. Senator Bob Menendez penned the following op-ed in yesterday's Sunday edition ofThe Record:

When it comes to solving big problems, the road to success is paved by bipartisan goodwill.

My good friend, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, recently echoed that sentiment when he said that 'the Gang of Six must now become the Gang of 60.' He was referring to our working group of three Democrats and three Republicans, which recently reached a compromise to protect 800,000 'Dreamers' from deportation - including 22,000 here in New Jersey.

Our plan was built on good-faith negotiations and old-fashioned compromise. It provided Dreamers with a 12-year path to citizenship in the only country they've ever called home, while devoting billions of dollars to border security and making adjustments to the family reunification process.

However, Senator Graham's call for a Gang of 60 also spoke to a larger truth about the Senate's identity as 'the world's greatest deliberative body.' Ever since 1806, when New Jerseyan Aaron Burr accidentally helped change a Senate rule to allow the minority to block the majority rule, this institution has worked best when we build consensus. Unlike the House of Representatives, which operates on a simple majority, the Senate requires at least 60 votes to consider a bill for final passage.

I still believe if brought to the floor, the Gang of Six compromise would surpass that coveted 60-vote threshold. After all, the same week it was rejected by President Trump, we had 56 senators on board. Now, with the deadline to protect America's Dreamers just around the corner, we must make another good-faith effort to reach an agreement capable of securing 60 votes in the Senate, a simple majority in the House of Representatives, and President Trump's signature.

Reaching such an agreement will not be easy, but I know it is possible. I saw it happen in 2013 when the Senate passed the comprehensive immigration reform bill I helped craft with the Gang of Eight. That measure went far beyond the DREAM Act to include huge reforms to modernize our entire immigration system and bring 11 million undocumented immigrants out of the shadows.

Throughout my career in Congress, I've strived to build bipartisan consensus on the big issues of the day. While leading the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I worked to bring Republicans and Democrats together to craft our responses to major global crises - like the sanctions we passed to punish Russia for its illegal annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

That's also how Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and I were able to pass the Autism CARES Act through the Senate with unanimous support. That bill incorporated some provisions - but not all - of my own bill to help individuals with autism as they grow into adulthood and lose eligibility for school-based support programs. By working together, we achieved a landmark victory for millions of families affected by autism not just in New Jersey but across America.

Ultimately, I believe the American people are better served when the Senate advances legislation that's capable of passing by more than a razor-thin margin. While Democrats spent more than a year courting Republican support for health care reform, we ultimately passed the Affordable Care Act with solely Democratic votes. After accepting dozens of Republicans amendments to our legislation, perhaps there was nothing more we could do to get them on board. But if we did, I would bet that Republicans wouldn't have spent most of 2017 relentlessly working to repeal 'Obamacare.'

Likewise, I imagine the tax bill would have been far better for New Jersey if Republicans had invited Democrats to the negotiating table. I've long supported comprehensive tax reform that simplifies our tax code and delivers real gains to working families. Unfortunately, Republicans were not interested in bipartisan compromise, to the detriment of New Jerseyans who will no longer be able to deduct all of their state and local taxes. This all but guarantees that many of their lopsided tax cuts won't stand the test of time.

Despite the erosion of trust in the Senate, I still see the potential for bipartisan breakthroughs on tough issues. This past year, I introduced a comprehensive flood insurance reform package that brought together Republican senators like Marco Rubio of Florida and progressives like Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. As the Senate Banking Committee examines the dysfunction and unaffordability plaguing our National Flood Insurance Program, I am hopeful that the bold, bipartisan reforms we negotiated are adopted and advanced in 2018.

While the House of Representatives is known for quickly passing highly-partisan bills, and the Senate ridiculed for being the place where House bills go to die, we should never shy away from our identity as the world's greatest deliberative body.

The Senate majority may control the agenda, but the minority has a voice. Our best hope at delivering lasting solutions for the American people - from immigration to pensions to infrastructure - is by advancing legislation capable of earning support from that Gang of 60.

But before we can cross those bridges, we have to build them - with a strong foundation forged by bipartisan collaboration, mutual respect and a commitment to compromise in service of the greater good.

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