A return to regular order in the new Congress

Recent debate over legislation that would authorize the Keystone XL pipeline demonstrates the Senate is returning to its institutional roots, an open forum where every member is given an equal chance to influence bills.  After weeks of deliberation and over 150 amendments filed from members in both parties, the Senate passed its first major piece of legislation in the 114^th Congress. 

With Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) as the CEO of their respective organizations, they have an opportunity to break the mold of dysfunction and gridlock and put forth conservative solutions to our largest problems.

{mosads}President Obama is likely to use his veto pen liberally as Congress sends bills to his desk, just as he’s sure to do with the Keystone bill.   But that’s beside the point.  Republicans are beginning to look like the adults in the room. 

With steady focus and sound political strategy from House and Senate leaders we can slowly chip away at the narrative of Republican obstructionism and demonstrate that Obama is the one responsible for gridlock and dysfunction.

Now is the time for House and Senate Leaders to step up and fill the vacuum of leadership left from six years of the Obama presidency. 

Committee leaders especially can have an impact by bringing Democrats to their position and by holding productive hearings that result in sound policies with input from both sides of the aisle. The legislative process is most effective when bills work their way through committees, and the free flow of debate is allowed and encouraged.  We’re going to see 12 appropriations bills over the course of the next several months that will produce one of the only Congressional budgets to make its way out of both chambers during Obama’s term in office. 

The President’s State of the Union Address was hardly an olive branch to Republicans, but there appears to be common ground when it comes to finding innovative ways to bring our healthcare system into the 21st Century.  For example, Rep. Fred Upton’s (R-Mich.) CURE’s Initiative epitomizes bipartisan cooperation and sound leadership.  The House Energy and Commerce Committee has been a bastion of productivity under Chairman Upton’s leadership, and the outcome could very well change the way healthcare is delivered in this country.  

Other Committee leaders should take note of this success and begin fact-finding missions of their own.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the new chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, could use this approach to tackle comprehensive tax reform.  There’s significant overlap when it comes cutting or modifying some of the myriad tax breaks in return for lower rates, and plenty of momentum to cut our corporate tax rate down from the highest in the industrialized world.  Well-orchestrated bipartisan hearings on individual and corporate taxes could produce the first reform plan since the Reagan Administration, when Republicans held the White House and Democrats controlled Congress. 

Congress is now moving full steam ahead to answer Speaker Boehner’s question: “Where are the jobs?”  The jobs exist in pushing polices that expand trade, fix our broken tax system, put our fiscal house in order, and restore confidence in the economy.  The means to accomplish this rests in the hands of House and Senate leaders, committee chairs, and rank and file members from both sides of the aisle. 

Despite differences of opinion amongst members of Congress – even those in the same party – members have a responsibility to govern and to put forward solutions to solve problems. None of this means abandoning principal. It simply means listening to the other side and agreeing where you can. It also means not shutting down the process because you didn’t get your way. This new Congress should have the foresight to see that fringe elements on both sides are never as powerful as they are loud, and they can’t dictate the national process. 

For the returning members, and dozens of freshmen lawmakers, they have an opportunity to prove to the American people big ideas can be shaped into law.

Much is yet to be seen about how the 114th Congress will behave, but the American people are watching.  Voters spoke up in November, and those members who expect to govern, lead, and be re-elected should listen.  We are hopeful they will.  

Malek is founder and chairman of Thayer Lodging Group and the American Action Network.