Price kicked off the town-hall-style meeting by citing cooperation as an absolute necessity for the next congressional session to be successful.
Pointing to 1997 as the "season of cooperation," Price noted that the passage of the Children's Health Insurance program during that period illustrates the benefits of bipartisan agreement. "It was a time of cooperation," Price said, "when the leadership and mainstream of both parties genuinely worked together."
Price said he was not sure about the direction Republican President-elect George W. Bush's agenda would lead the nation, though he said he hoped Bush would refrain from starting off with head-to-head combat between parties.
Price said he believed the biggest dispute between the two parties during the next congressional session would stem from whether prescription drugs should be covered under Medicare.
Price also expressed his belief that campaign reform is necessary to create bipartisanship in Congress as well as prevent another national election fiasco similar to the one in Florida. "If you think the Supreme Court meant their decision, then that leads to the belief in a minimum standard of election procedures and equipment," Price said.
The McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act is the current effort to create a selection of standardized ballots for the states. Price added that the act also provides financial incentives for states to retire inferior voting equipment, especially prevalent in minority communities.
Many members of the black legislative caucus protested the legitimacy of the Florida election results which handed Bush the Presidency at a Congressional session in which Electoral College votes were officially tabulated on the basis that minority votes failed to be counted in Florida in part because of inadequate equipment in poorer counties. "I think they have a good deal of credibility," Price said. "I think they have legitimate grounds for concern - too much obsolete equipment, too many votes not counted - and the problem seems concentrated in the minority communities."
The campaign reform act will also include Price's Stand By Your Ad program. Implemented in the 2000 N.C. state elections, Price's program requires that politicians appear in commercials if they attack their opponent.
Though Price admitted he was not terribly optimistic about the upcoming congressional session, he said bipartisanship was not beyond the reach of Congress."We are closely divided, yet the issues between us are not as deeply divided as others have been."
