WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Sunday called on incoming Democratic lawmakers who will govern in the minority to always be mindful of other people\u2019s perspectives \u2014 even when they may be wrong.
\nAt a reception meant to welcome new, mostly young, Democratic lawmakers to Washington, the nation\u2019s oldest and outgoing Democratic president \u2014 reflective as he shared some war stories of his past and pointed to challenges ahead \u2014 urged the new generation of legislators to listen and work across the aisle.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t do that anymore,\u201d he said in the White House State Room. \u201cThe single greatest loss we have is that we don\u2019t know each other anymore.\u201d
\nThe new slate of roughly 30 Democratic lawmakers arrive prepared to be in the minority in the executive and legislative branches. Democrats faced a crushing loss in the 2024 general election \u2014 after Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris lost her bid for the presidency. Republicans also maintained control of the House in the November election and won a narrow majority in the Senate.
\nNew incoming lawmakers on Sunday expressed hope they can make a difference.
\nCalifornia Rep. Sam Liccardo, a former San Jose mayor, told The Associated Press that while he expects limitations as a new Democratic member of Congress, he believes there will be opportunities to make change by focusing on common areas of agreement.
\n\u201cI\u2019m not expecting as a first-term member I will be the one to cut the deal on the border,\u201d he said. \u201cOn the other hand, there are other issues like housing costs, low-income house tax credits, where there have been relative consensus to build a majority on.\u201d
\nAt the reception, Biden recalled his entry to Washington more than 50 years ago. He was just 29 when he was first elected to Congress in 1972, having ousted longtime incumbent Republican Caleb Boggs. At the time of his election, Biden didn\u2019t meet the Senate\u2019s minimum age requirement but turned 30 a couple of weeks after he won his race.
\nHe talked about the importance of building relationships with lawmakers across the aisle. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to give up your principles to build relationships,\u201d Biden said.
\nHe also talked about the challenges the US faces internationally and domestically. \u201cWe\u2019re in an entirely new era, everything has changed. Our safety depends on who our partners are and who our allies are.\u201d
\nNew Democratic Arizona Rep. Yassamin Ansari, speaking on CNN on Sunday, said she\u2019s hopeful to work on issues like housing affordability, climate issues and reproductive freedom. \u201cThese are issues that young people have said loud and clear are important to them.\u201d \u201cAnd I think, some of these issues, we can also work on in a bipartisan way.\u201d
\nAnd while new Rep. Adam Gray, D-Calif., was elected to office, his district also voted for Trump over Harris by five points.
\n\u201cI think what Americans want to see is border security,\u201d Gray told CNN, \u201cObviously, the last Congress wasn\u2019t serious enough, which is why the American people sent me here and sent a strong message that they want change. Status quo is not going to do it.\u201d
\nLiccardo said Biden\u2019s past experience shows that \u201che appreciates the importance of the passage of the torch.\u201d The Sunday event \u201cis an opportunity for him to bless and share a moment with the next generation of leaders in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Sunday called on incoming Democratic lawmakers who will govern in the minority to always be mindful of other people\u2019s perspectives \u2014 even when they may be wrong. At a reception meant to welcome new, mostly young, Democratic lawmakers to Washington, the nation\u2019s oldest and outgoing Democratic president \u2014 reflective as …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":75244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75233"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75245,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75233\/revisions\/75245"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}