Former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, shown here during today’s interview at New Mexico State University. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
Retired GOP senator still says civility in Washington is critical but also understands the fear that’s leading to emotional outbursts
A year ago, U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., came to Las Cruces to tell attendees at the inaugural Domenici Public Policy Conference that Washington needed more people like Pete Domenici.
That’s because, Dodd said at the time, senators like the Republican Domenici treated each other with civility and respect even when they vehemently disagreed with each other, and that made bipartisan compromise possible.
The discourse hasn’t necessarily been all that civil lately, with angry outbursts at town-hall meetings and one Republican U.S. House member interrupting a speech by the president to call him a liar.
Months after he retired from the Senate, Domenici says he understands emotional outbursts that have come to characterize much of the debate lately. Domenici’s primary focus since he left the Senate has been attempting to bring attention to the problem of the nation’s debt, which he says has Americans worried.
“There is more fear and concern, in my opinion, in the hearts and minds of Americans,” Domenici said today in an interview. “… So you have a lot of things that look like non-civility, but it’s really people are afraid.”
The retired senator was speaking on the opening day of this year’s Domenici conference at New Mexico State University.
Domenici, who served in the Senate for 36 years and was once chairman of the budget committee, said he is concerned that programs being discussed, including a government-run health care plan, will only increase the debt.
“(The debt) is a bigger problem that we’ve had, and I think that’s contributing to emotions,” Domenici said.
‘How long will democracy work without civility?’
In today’s interview, Domenici appeared to be conflicted. On one hand, he sees a trend toward greater government involvement in people’s lives as a serious problem that is understandably leading to many of the emotional outbursts coloring the debate. On the other hand, he believes a spirit of bipartisanship and respect will be necessary to address the debt and other problems.
“Civility and bipartisanship are necessities. The question is: How long will democracy work without civility?” Domenici said. “I don’t know.”
Domenici said he was once part of crafting a truly bipartisan piece of legislation — the Energy Policy Act of 2005 — along with Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. They were able to accomplish that because, even though he was the committee chairman and Bingaman was the minority party’s ranking member, Domenici said he didn’t start off by trying to force a Republican bill on Bingaman. Instead, Domenici said, staffers for both worked together to craft a bill from scratch.
He said that hasn’t been the case in the current debate over health care reform. Instead, the Democrats started with a bill they wanted and asked Republicans to work with them.
“True bipartisanship means you’ve got to have equal input in the process, and you’ve got to start equal,” Domenici said.
If lawmakers started from scratch in a bipartisan manner, he said, “we’d have a completely different bill” that, in addition to addressing a proposal to create a public option or something similar, would also deal with tort reform and create a catastrophic coverage program. Such an insurance option, Domenici said, would be the preferred option for many, including young people, and would dramatically cut costs.