Nick Lampson: “it is a pleasure to join Mr. Israel and all of my colleagues tonight for something that is special. I want to first…”

“it is a pleasure to join Mr. Israel and all of my colleagues tonight for something that is special. I want to first start out by telling our colleagues and the Speaker and others that even though there is a tradition that typically a Democrat will speak from one side of the well, and the Republicans the other, tonight is not about where we will sit or stand in this room. It is more about where we will sit or stand in relation to the needs of the people of the United States of America. The Center Aisle Caucus is an organization of Members of Congress who are indeed going to look for ways to move issues forward that can make a difference for our families, our communities, and our States and Nation. My involvement with this began actually on a trip, I guess, with Mr. Gilchrest some years back; and then when I returned to Congress after what I found to be some very difficult times where camaraderie broke down and it was very difficult for us to feel comfortable working with each other and discussing difficult issues, where oftentimes it did break down into the partisan bickering and the screaming and shouting and little getting resolved, to the point where we gathered some of our colleagues to sit down and have coffee and ask: What can we do and do differently?”