In his farewell speech, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said “hyper partisanship” has broken the Senate.
“As great as it is, the Senate is broken,” Pryor said on the Senate floor Monday. “People look at Washington and shake their heads.”
{mosads}Pryor faced a tough reelection race and lost in November, helping Republicans gain control of the upper chamber next year. Rep. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) will replace Pryor.
“Republicans have a great opportunity in 2015 and 2016,” Pryor said. “It’s time for them to turn off the rhetoric and turn on the governing.”
Pryor advised senators to take advise from Jesus, saying if lawmakers followed the golden rule three-quarters of Senate problems would “vanish.”
“Let’s take off the red jersey and let’s take off the blue jersey,” Pryor said. “And let us all put on the red, white and blue jersey.”
Several senators listened to Pryor’s speech on the Senate floor and applauded upon his conclusion.
Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) bid him farewell.
Durbin told the story of attending the annual ‘Coon Supper event with Pryor in Arkansas. He said “buckets” of raccoon are served to the political guests.
“Unfortunately, they don’t serve steak at this event,” Durbin said.