On the recordMay 20, 2013
I thank my good friend from Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I'm proud to stand here tonight as a member of this Problem Solvers Coalition. The coalition offers a common ground for lawmakers to make government work better and to negotiate solutions without the blinders of partisan talking points. Our country has a history, during difficult times, times more difficult than these, times of great political strife, of coming together, rank-and-file Americans and legislators alike. During the early days of our Republic, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to his friend, Edward Rutledge, and he said this: You and I have seen warm debate and high political passions. But gentlemen of different politics would then speak to each other. It is not so now. Men who have been intimate all their lives cross the street to avoid meeting, and turn their heads the other way lest they should be obliged to tip their hat. Well, we, as Americans, made it through those difficult times, and eventually this hall was populated by people who were prepared to tip their hat. During this time in our history, we too need to be hat tippers. We need more hat tippers in the U.S. Congress. We need more statesmen, more men and women who are prepared to root out waste, to improve the performance of our largest programs of government, to modulate our discourse. We need to recognize that our public disagreements aren't always about ends; sometimes they're merely about means.…
