Bill Nelson: “most of the Senators know how much I love the Senate and how I love individual Senators who are quite extraordinary…”

“most of the Senators know how much I love the Senate and how I love individual Senators who are quite extraordinary individuals. It is because of that love that I have concern we continue to see excessive partisanship in the Senate, what is described as the most deliberative body in the world. This is not to say that because we are the most deliberative body, we should not have our political fights and sharply disagree. But when crisis faces the Nation, it seems to this Senator there ought to be a focus on finding common ground instead of that which separates us. I want to give two examples of where I thought it was a very fine hour that the Nation found common ground in a bipartisan way. The first was when I had the privilege of serving in the House of Representatives in 1983. Social Security was facing a financial default within a 6-month period. Two old Irishmen, who would fight every day but at the end of the day could walk through the door as personal friends and had a personal relationship so that they could get things done, those two old Irishmen--one being the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, and the other one being the Speaker of the House, Tip O'Neill--realized that if we were going to solve the potential default of the Social Security system, we had to come together in a bipartisan way. Indeed, they said: We are going to take this third rail of American politics off the table at the next election. It will not be an election issue.”