Rhode Island’s senior Senator Jack Reed said he’s hopeful that President-elect Donald Trump will be able to work across the aisle with Democratic members of Congress. Trump won on a campaign of fiery rhetoric, leading some to wonder how well he would work with others.
Further, both the executive and legislative branches of government are now Republican led, but Reed said Democrats have been able to work within such a system before.
“We’ve been there before, in 2001 President Bush was inaugurated, there was a Republican House and Senate, we will try to find common ground, work together try to resolve the issues that concern the American public,” said Reed.
Trump set a conciliatory tone during his acceptance speech, and Hillary Clinton told her supporters to quote “keep an open mind” towards his presidency.
However Reed said Trump’s proposal to repeal the Affordable Health Care act, known as Obamacare, is unwise.
“I think the prudent thing is to go ahead and make changes where they’re justified, but a repeal would be very disruptive, be very costly and leave thousands and thousands of Rhode Islanders without access to affordable healthcare,” said Reed.
Reed said Rhode Island’s economy could benefit from President-elect Trump. The Republican has said he plans to bolster defense spending, and Rhode Island is home to a robust submarine construction industry.
“I hope it continues the work we already have and perhaps expand,” said Reed. “We have a significant number of people employed, and that’s all important work and good paying jobs, I hope we can see more of those.”
The defense industry employs thousands in Rhode Island, from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Middletown, to the Electric Boat submarine construction facility in Quonset.
Reed is the ranking Democrat on the powerful Armed Services Committee. Had Democrats taken control of the Senate, Reed would have likely become chairman of the committee, a seat currently held by Arizona Congressman John McCain.
