Updated 6:25 p.m | House lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were in a rare, chummy mood Wednesday as they debated a water resources bill that Republicans and Democrats just seem to love. "This is how we ought to work," said Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md. "This is how the Congress ought to work with one another, all 435 of us. I don't mean that 435 are going to vote for the bill, but we have worked together on this bill." Hoyer said he hoped other Republicans and Democrats would collaborate like Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster, R-Pa., and the panel's ranking Democrat, Nick J. Rahall II of West Virginia did on the Water Resources Reform and Development Act. "I hope we can tap into this spirit of cooperation by scheduling consideration of a comprehensive immigration reform legislation which, like this bill, has support from both sides of the aisle — from business, from labor, from religious groups and from leading nonprofits," Hoyer said. "That is a challenge I think that we can meet this year." Of course, transferring the spirit of bipartisanship from infrastructure legislation, which is typically an issue with support on both sides of the aisle, to a contentious issue like immigration is a lofty goal. But the water resources bill, it seems, has momentarily brought Republicans and Democrats together. "We worked in a bipartisan way since day one, developing this bill from members, stakeholders, through listening sessions, roundtables and hearings," Shuster said. Rahall offered, "I hope this will be a signal of how this committee will bring future pieces of legislation to the floor. And I just hope that it will be a signal to the entire Congress how we should be working closer together in a bipartisan fashion." (more…)
