A new local newspaper is a cause for celebration and gratitude— an important source of reporting and opinion that can help enhance community and civility. I offer my thanks and congratulations to the New Canaan Sentinel as it begins its exciting journey.
As I travel the state, what I hear again and again is a deep yearning for those qualities of community and civility that often seem like endangered species in our public life. People are rightly troubled by divisive and sometimes vicious confrontations at the national level. Their hope is that public discourse at the local level can be different.
In fact, my robust impression is that those values— both community and civility— are alive and well in many Connecticut towns and perhaps can raise and restore our national standards. As one local official in a small Northeastern Connecticut town told me over the Labor Day weekend, “The bonds are still there. There’s no partisan right-wing or left-wing way to fix a pothole.”
Local newspapers alert the public about problems— commonly much bigger than potholes— and concentrate attention of public officials to fix them. They provide a ready, reliable channel for civil communication and community problem solving.
Civility in this sense is a means as well as an end. It’s listening with an open mind and heart. Not necessarily agreeing, it means disagreeing agreeably, as the old saying goes. It’s accepting responsibility for responding— treating others with decency and respect— and seeking common ground.
You know the adage: God gave us two ears and one mouth, so that maybe we’d do a little more listening than talking. Listening is the most important part of my job.
In towns like New Canaan local newspapers, listening and reporting, elevate civility— shining a light on local issues in a way that encourages people to put aside partisan politics and personal conflicts. Congress could learn a lot from such models of local leadership and listening.
Despite the vitriol and ugliness that sometimes infuriatingly infects Congress and generally the national scene, I believe there’s reason for hope. I’ve been proud and grateful to work with colleagues on the other side of the aisle on critical issues like national defense, veteran’s assistance, internet safety, Ukraine support, protections for college athletes, and others.
Although we may vote differently and have different views on many issues, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and I are firmly united in advocating for the military aid Ukraine needs to beat back Russia’s genocidal, murderous invasion. I just returned from my fourth trip there, again traveling with him.
Likewise, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn) and I have worked and partnered on a potentially groundbreaking measure to protect children from addictive and toxic content like eating disorders and bullying on social media. There’s nothing red or blue about the Kids Online Safety Act— cosponsored now by 45 colleagues— evenly divided by party.
Through collaboration with colleagues across the political spectrum we passed the PACT Act to provide veterans with comprehensive care and benefits if they’ve been exposed to toxic chemicals and burn pits on battlefields over the last few decades. By the way: please tell your veteran friends and families to get screened for any of the diseases like cancer caused by such exposure. It could save their lives.
Also last year, remarkably, we achieved the first significant gun violence prevention reform in 30 years— the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act— because we built a consensus and coalition across the aisle. It’s a solid beginning step forward.
In the next month, I’m hopeful— never overconfident when Congress is concerned— that we’ll take action to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (our country’s military budget), move to avoid a government shutdown, approve a supplemental package for Ukraine and disaster-stricken areas, and more. All on a bipartisan basis.
Raising and restoring a sense of civility— and coming together “to get stuff done,” as someone at the Newtown Labor Day Parade told me last Sunday— are a real opportunity, and obligation.
