Ben Sasse: “one of the fundamental purposes of this body is to debate some of the biggest issues facing this Nation and to do so in…”

“one of the fundamental purposes of this body is to debate some of the biggest issues facing this Nation and to do so in an honorable way. The Senate is for debate but not as an abstraction. It is to be addressing and ultimately solving the meatiest challenges the Constitution demands that we tackle. Unfortunately, a great deal of our debate is weak and embarrassing. Much of it falls off the trivial side of the cliff or the shrill side of the cliff. During my time serving Nebraskans in this place, I hope to be aligned with those who want fighting and debating in this place, but it needs to be meaningful fighting. It needs to be honorable, honest debating. To that end, there is a terrific column this week by Pete Wehner in Commentary magazine. Partly because the column is about Daniel Patrick Moynihan, at whose desk I intentionally sit, partly because it is about C.S. Lewis, a man whose writings have changed my life, and partly because it is just darn good exhortation to us, I would like to read a portion of this column into the Senate Record today. Wehner begins: While reading Gregory Weiner's fascinating book ``American Burke,'' I came across this comment: ``(Daniel Patrick) Moynihan's intellectual curiosity was such that he gravitated toward thinkers with whom he disagreed precisely because he disagreed with them and could consequently learn from them. This observation reminded me of an incident in 1948 involving C.S.…”