111th Congress can be proud of its work

Tom Harper, Henderson

Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010 | 2:04 a.m.

In reflecting upon this past year and looking to the future, I read with interest Friday’s article by Karoun Demirjian of the Las Vegas Sun’s Washington Bureau on U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, “Win, lose, draw.” I also read E.J. Dionne’s column in Thursday’s Sun, “Courage of Obama’s Orphans — Ousted Democrats can be proud they helped change country’s course.”

The “Win, lose, draw” article recognized that: “Scholars and pundits of all political persuasions agree that the 111th Congress has been the most productive the country has seen since at least the ‘Great Society’ years of the 1960s, if not ever.” The “Courage of Obama’s Orphans” column recognized the tremendous sacrifice that public servants paid for supporting such necessary social reform legislation like health care reform.

Isn’t it amazing that the 111th Congress was so productive in light of the resistance of the Party of No and the filibuster rule that clearly should be abolished, requiring 60 votes to even consider legislation? Likewise, the sacrifices of conscientious legislators like Dina Titus who do the right thing, such as voting for health care reform, are magnified by the rigors of a two-year election cycle that demands nonstop working, nonstop campaigning, uprooting to move to Washington, D.C., and then having to move back to Nevada.

So what are some of my New Year resolutions? I’m going to work as hard as possible to re-elect President Barack Obama and Congresswoman Shelley Berkley and return Dina Titus to public office should she decide to run again, and thank them and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for all of their hard work and sacrifice.