Saya Mueller at The Daily Bruin:
Former policymakers and political analysts gathered Tuesday to discuss bipartisanship in the United States’ polarized political climate. The discussion was hosted by the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs in partnership with the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations and the Los Angeles World Affairs Council.
Jane Harman, a Democrat and the former U.S. Representative for California’s 36th congressional district, and David Dreier, a Republican who previously served as a U.S. Representative for several California districts, discussed their experiences in Congress along with the difficulties in achieving – and benefits of – bipartisanship. The conversation was mediated by Jim Newton, a lecturer in public policy and veteran journalist.
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Harman, who served nine terms in Congress before working in global affairs and national defense, and Dreier, who served 16 terms in Congress before working in foreign affairs policy, spoke about their years collaborating in Congress despite being on opposite sides of the aisle.
One such attempt came as Dreier asked Harman to support the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Harman rejected, Dreier said. NAFTA was a pact between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. that created a free-trade zone between the North American countries. It was implemented in 1994 and was in effect until the passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada-agreement in 2020, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol website.
“Here we were, trying to encourage the development of democratic institutions, political pluralism, the rule of law in a very, very bipartisan way,” Dreier said. “Needless to say, it has been a struggle.”
Although they sometimes held opposing views, Dreier and Harman remained on good terms, Harman said. Dreier spoke about how small actions to further goodwill make an impact, citing a time where he sat between Harman and Congresswoman Maxine Waters on the Democratic side of the floor during President Barack Obama’s 2011 State of the Union message, instead of sitting with Republican leadership.
“I went over there because I said there are little, tiny things like that can be done,” Dreier said.