Democratic Oak Tree

The 110th Congress began this week. At the start of 2007 we have reason to hope for a period of honest debate, true patriotism, and work for the common good in the House and Senate in Washington.

Unless a senator in the Democratic majority dies or switches parties, the leadership of the powerful Senate committees will be in Democratic hands for the next two years, with the result that Democrats will determine which matters are brought up for investigation, debate, and action.

To enact laws, both the House and the Senate must agree. In the Senate especially, with its excruciatingly thin Democratic majority, the bills that become law will likely be those that “conservative” Democrats and “moderate” Republicans can vote for. If they are to pass, bills must be crafted to overcome Republican filibusters and presidential vetoes.

But even without ground-breaking legislation, a Democratic-led Senate will be a positive change from the institution controlled by Republicans for almost all of the past decade.

The new Senate will not provide cover for an extraordinarily secretive, incompetent, and prevaricating administration led by President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

It will be possible to conduct public hearings on matters that have been ignored or hushed up.

Even though past mistakes, bad judgment, and deceit may seem to be water under the bridge, it’s essential that We the People evaluate what our government has been doing in our name…and learn what it has refused to make public.

For how can we make decisions about the future without a clear-eyed assessment of where we are now, how money is being spent, and whose priorities our government has adopted?

Our own Senator Kennedy is now chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The Democratic composition of this crucial committee includes Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, along with eight other respected men and women. These eleven will be working with nine Republicans (most from states that voted enthusiastically for President Bush).

We in Massachusetts know how forcefully Kennedy has fought for civil rights, universal health care, and economic justice, a courageous and steady voice for compassion throughout the churlish and cynical years of Republican power.

Kennedy has announced his committee’s goals for the coming year: increasing the federal minimum wage, removing barriers to stem cell research, making college more affordable, and addressing the crisis in health care. He believes that bipartisan support can be found for progress in these areas.

Another dramatic change in leadership is in the Environment and Public Works Committee. Under the Republican majority, the chair of that committee was Inhofe of Oklahoma, who once said that global warming is the “greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.”

Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer will now chair the environmental committee. She is the California senator who has led the fight to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Boxer will personally oversee its subcommittee Public Sector Solutions to Global Warming, Oversight, Children’s Health Protection and Nuclear Safety. Now it will be possible for vigorous Senate hearings on global warming, with scientists and government officials testifying under oath. Let’s hope that these hearings will galvanize the United States to act forcefully on this issue which threatens our future.
One of the exciting characteristics of the new Senate leaders is the knowledge, broad perspectives, and unselfish values they bring to bear in dealing with complex, intertwined issues facing us, including environment, energy, economic prosperity, and international relations.

Take our Senators Kennedy and Kerry, for example. Kennedy may be better known for his work in education, health care, and civil rights, but he also has a stellar record on protecting natural resources, improving public transportation, and defending our judiciary, to name just a few of the areas in which he has been a leader during his extensive Senate career.

Kerry, now chair of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship committee, has expertise in not only business issues but also environmental protection, children’s health care, national security, veterans affairs, and affordable housing, among others.

Our Democratic leaders, working together and with Republicans, can take the United States forward in the next two years – or at least protect us from the backwards slide we’ve experienced recently – and earn the respect of Americans across the country, and perhaps the world.

Then in 2008, we have the chance to elect additional Democrats to Congress and improve the prospects of progressive legislation. And a White House devoted to working for the common good.

Happy new year!