Bera reflects on work in Congress
As I start my second year representing Sacramento County, I share the frustrations that many people have with Washington.
Over the last year, gridlock and hostility have dominated the conversation, making it difficult to move forward on the issues that matter most to Americans, such as jobs and the economy, our nation’s debt, and health care just to name a few.
The dysfunction starts at the top with a breakdown of leadership exhibited by Speaker of the House John Boehner on to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House and President Barack Obama. It’s obvious that these leaders do not like each other, trust one another, or respect each other. This lack of civility is largely to blame for the lack of productivity.
But there are still glimmers of hope.
Many freshman Members of Congress, including me, ran in 2012 to try to break through the partisan gridlock, recognizing that Democrats and Republicans needed to find a way to work together and that the very definition of divided government requires negotiation and cooperation. We are still committed to those ideas and fighting for them every day.
The first piece of legislation that I co-sponsored last year was the No Budget No Pay Act, which says if members of Congress don’t do their jobs and pass a responsible budget, they don’t get paid.
A version of that bill is now law, and for the first time in years we actually have a budget signed into law. It is far from perfect, but it is a bipartisan step in the right direction, and a sign that Congress can actually work together. The bill also reduces our long-term debt, and provides Sacramento County residents and businesses with more certainty for the next two fiscal years.
Additionally, 2012 was the year a group called the No Labels Problem Solvers came together.
Their sole aim is to get members of Congress from both parties working together. I am proud to be a leader of the Problem Solvers and have helped the group grow from 40 members to 87 members over the last year. We are the only bipartisan group that meets every week to build trust, and find ways to work together. If leadership is not willing to govern, it will require a group of members like the Problem Solvers to make the changes happen.
At the committee level, where Democrats and Republicans have traditionally worked together, we have had dramatic bipartisan impact. For example, during the crisis in Syria, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, of which I’m a member, worked together to help keep us out of another Middle Eastern war. Through my work on the Committee, I was also able to promote Sacramento area products globally and promote Sacramento as a destination where businesses can succeed.
Finally, while the gridlock has slowed the passage of critical legislation, it hasn’t stopped members from being able to help people in their districts on an individual basis. This year, my office helped more than 1,000 residents recover more than $800,000 owed to them by the federal government. More than half of that was for local veterans who have served our country and were getting caught up in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs backlog.
Yes, the 113th Congress has so far left a lot of room for improvement, and I know it sometimes feels like our government isn’t working for us. But there has been some progress, and there are many Democratic and Republican members of Congress who want to work together for the good of the country.
We can fix Washington if we take common sense ideas from both parties, and put the interest of the American people ahead of party politics. I’m going to continue fighting to do just that.