Reid calls for congressional cooperation

WASHINGTON -- On the eve of his expected re-election as Senate majority leader, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada said Monday that he is willing to let bygones be bygones in hopes of achieving cooperation with Republicans in the new Congress that starts in January.

"I want everyone within the sound of my voice to know, we don't know what our majority is going to be, but whatever it is ... I make a commitment to everyone that the only way we can succeed is working together," Reid said.

"For me personally this is also a time not to look back," Reid said, referring to the past two years when Democrats controlled only a small majority, leading to gridlock on many major issues.

"There is no need to look back," Reid said. "There are reasons for everyone doing what they did, and we can let the historians write about what took place in the past.

"I would hope we all would look forward to a coming year as one of hope and necessity to change things because we obviously have a big hole, and we have to dig our way out of it," Reid said. "The best thing is we have a hundred people digging in the same way."

Reid delivered the comments in a speech welcoming senators back for a short post-election session but also casting an eye to the new session that begins in January when Democrats will control at least 57 seats, and perhaps more depending on contests in Alaska, Minnesota and Georgia that have yet to be settled.

The House and Senate are expected to meet for at least the next few days.

Today, the parties are scheduled to elect new leaders for the 111th Congress that will convene in January. Reid is expected to be re-elected as Senate majority leader.

At the same time, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., is running unopposed to head the Senate Republican Policy Committee, which would give him a voice in retooling the GOP message after the party's election losses earlier this month.

Also, some 60 incoming lawmakers are gathering this week for freshman orientation. Among them is Rep.-elect Dina Titus, a Democrat who unseated Republican Jon Porter in the 3rd Congressional District.

While there were optimistic predictions for the incoming Congress, in the short term it appeared the 110th Congress was going to end on a partisan note, with little progress expected on legislation to address the financial crisis.

Reid was preparing Monday to introduce a $100 billion economic stimulus bill containing funds for road and public works projects Democrats said would generate jobs. It also would extend unemployment benefits for people whose jobless payments are nearing an end, offer aid to states and cities, and grant an expected $25 billion in aid to the auto industry.

The broad-based proposal has met resistance from the White House and Senate Republicans, and is unlikely to gain 60 votes to avert a filibuster threat. A less ambitious bill, containing just the jobless benefits and emergency assistance for Detroit auto companies, also is expected to garner opposition.

If passage is not achieved this week, Reid said, Democrats would reintroduce the stimulus bill in January when they have a larger majority.

"If ever there was a time for working together, this is it," Reid said. "Senators have a choice to make. They can wait until January until we have a new Congress and president, or we can start to work on these problems now, If we can work together in the coming days, perhaps we can begin delivering solutions to the American people."

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.