Set an example for civility

January 23, 2005
By Rep. Tim Johnson

Slightly more than four years ago, I became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives serving the 15th District of Illinois, an area known for agricultural prominence and higher education.

At that same time, a gentleman named Rep. Steve Israel became the new member of Congress representing New York 's 2nd District, which incorporates part of New York City, one of the world's largest and most significant cities.

It is common for members of Congress to strike up lasting friendships with colleagues in their "freshman class," and this is certainly the case with Rep. Israel and me.

Early this month, Rep. Israel, a Democrat from New York City, and I, a Republican from Central Illinois, began our third terms in the U.S. House.

Over the course of the last four years, we have become good friends.

While our backgrounds are vastly different and our respective party affiliations are not the same, we have determined that we both share a lot of the same interests and we both serve the American public with the goal of building a better country for our children.

One fact of life on Capitol Hill is that partisan differences often hinder the Congress' ability to pass and enact meaningful legislation that will benefit all Americans. Without doubt, the country has a long history of partisan mudslinging.

Political rivals accused Thomas Jefferson of being an atheist, John Adams of being a monarchist and Andrew Jackson's mother of being a prostitute. Today's 527s -- like the Swift Boat Veterans and Moveon.org -- even seem tame by comparison.

Yet, precedence doesn't make the present day mudslinging any less problematic. For one, the practice has led good people, such as John Breaux, to leave the world of politics for more civil occupations in private life and has kept many more from running for office in the first place. Elected office is too important to be left only to those who are willing to put up with personal attacks.

Even more, attack politics trivialize and distract us from the more important differences in ideas that we should be discussing.

While there are a number of issues on which the two of us disagree, we would prefer to recognize the grounds for those opposing views rather than trivializing them with caricatures.

For example, one of us receives the support of the National Rifle Association and the other does not. But to characterize each other as either a gun-toting militiamen or a gun-grabbing fascist belittles the legitimate disagreements we do have over guns, leaving little room for common-sense compromises.

After hours of discussion over the past four years, Rep. Israel and I have decided we are organizing a Congressional Civility Caucus. It is our hope to create a bi-partisan group of House members that will strive for civil debate in all our work in Washington , D.C.

While we will continue to disagree on issues, as members of the Civility Caucus, we will respect each others points of view in those disagreements, compromise where we can and work to pass common- sense legislation in the best interest of all Americans -- not on a "red-state/blue state" basis.

Our partisan differences do matter. But philosophical differences need not become personal destruction.

Civility in politics shouldn't be restricted to occasional ceremonies where presidents stand together on stage.

It needs to include members of Congress on opposite sides of the aisle working together every day and respecting each other's differing views.

We've got more important things to do than sling mud. After all, we have a country to run.

As the 109th Congress begins, there are new members and veterans alike, from both parties serving their respective states and districts.

They will bring to the floor critical issues on both the national and international fronts.

Let us proceed in working for the American people with a higher level of dignity and civility.

Setting such an example in one of the most adversarial localities in the country, Washington, D.C., perhaps we can confront negative tones that have rooted themselves in all segments of modern-day America.