Column from U.S. Senator Russ Feingold Bipartisanship in '08 February 4, 2008 When the voters send their legislators to Washington, they do so because they want Congress to get things done, and make progress for the country. Getting things done takes cooperation and bipartisanship, and unfortunately those have been in short supply lately. We have seen too much mindless partisanship, and not enough members of different parties working to find common ground. This many be an election year, but that doesn’t mean that members of Congress can’t put partisanship aside and work together. I am working on five bipartisan proposals that I think we can and should make progress on for the American people. I believe Congress can move forward this year to address the need for health care reform; curb wasteful spending; fix the flawed No Child Left Behind law; protect our nation’s waters; and curb the money chase in future presidential elections, all on a bipartisan basis. Everyone in Congress agrees that we need to improve our health care system, but the disagreement on how to do this too often grinds reform efforts to a halt. Congress could break this political stalemate by empowering states to try new, innovative approaches to expand health coverage. I have joined Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to introduce legislation to allow pilot programs in several states to help them achieve health care coverage in the best way they see fit. These efforts would be a springboard to national health care reform. Taxpayers’ confidence in Congress has taken a hit in recent years as they have seen their money wasted on earmarks, or pet projects funded by members of Congress. These earmarks are quietly dropped in huge bills, with no accountability or review. Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) and I have introduced a measure that will allow the president to force the House and Senate to vote specifically on questionable earmarks. Our bill creates a constitutional method to target wasteful earmarks, improve congressional accountability, and deter lawmakers from inserting frivolous spending into bills. People of all political stripes agree that No Child Left Behind’s one-size-fits-all education policy is the wrong approach. We need to work together to close the achievement gap in our schools while ensuring that those working most closely with our students have control over day-to-day classroom decisions. I have proposed legislation to reform NCLB's testing mandates and encourage the use of different measures of assessment. As Wisconsinites, we are rightly proud of our state’s beautiful lakes, rivers, and streams, and understand we have a responsibility to protect our nation’s waters for future generations. However, the quality of our drinking water, outdoor recreational opportunities, habitats for wildlife, and fragile ecosystems around the country are now jeopardized by an erosion of the protections established by the Clean Water Act of 1972. I have introduced legislation to reaffirm our nation’s commitment to clean water, which is critically important to us and future generations. The search for ever-increasing sums of money to finance presidential campaigns means that many candidates are multi-millionaires or tied to a non-stop fundraising machine. The result is candidates who are dependent on wealthy contributors, and who spend less and less time addressing the issues most important to Americans. A bipartisan group of colleagues and I are proposing badly needed repairs to the presidential public financing system to restore the public's faith in the fairness of presidential elections and make it a more practical system. Each of these initiatives is a specific example of how bipartisan efforts can achieve important, meaningful goals. There is very important work to be done, and we must not let our differences keep us from doing the people’s business. Congress owes that to the American people, and I look forward to joining my colleagues of both parties to work on these and other issues in the year ahead.