5. Pa.’s Fitzpatrick leads U.S. House in bipartisanship, new rankings show
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-1st District, lives and breathes bipartisanship, down to the color of his clothes.
Earlier this month, the two-term lawmaker from suburban Philadelphia donned a purple tie and joined a group of Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. House to listen as President Donald Trump delivered the annual State of the Union address.
The color of Fitzpatrick’s tie symbolized his belief in the value of compromise and consensus, and the lawmakers he sat with were fellow members of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a group working to find common ground in an era of extreme partisan gridlock.
Fitzpatrick, who serves as vice chair of the caucus, leads the way in bipartisanship in Congress, new rankings show.
Last year, he signed on to more bipartisan bills than any other member of the U.S. House, according to a recent report card by GovTrack.us, a nonpartisan organization that tracks government data and statistics.
Of 867 bills he cosponsored last year, about 81 percent were introduced by members of the other party — a higher percentage than all 435 other lawmakers scored (the list also includes nonvoting House members).
And that’s the week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. We’ll see you all back here on Monday. |