Sen. Reid pledges to seek working relationship with Sen.-elect Brown

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has scheduled a phone call
with Sen.-elect Scott Brown, hoping to forge a working relationship
with the incoming Massachusetts Republican.

Reid sounded conciliatory tones in his first floor speech after Brown’s surprise victory, which gave Republicans 41 votes in the Senate, enough to block President Barack Obama’s agenda.
 
{mosads}“We’ll continue to leave a seat at the table for our Republican colleagues; whether their caucus comprises 40 or 41 members, each composes this body of 100,” Reid said. “We should all be united within the walls of this chamber, not defined by the aisle that divides these desks.”
 
Reid said he asked his assistant early this morning to set up a call with Brown.
 
“I look forward to visiting with him, I look forward to welcoming him to the Senate and ask him that he work with us,” said Reid.
 
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the Massachusetts special election should serve as a warning to Democrats to re-evaluate their agenda.
 
He also hinted that Republicans would not shy away from the sort of no-holds-barred opposition that slowed passage of the Senate healthcare reform bill.
 
“I can assure everyone that Republicans are energized to pick up where we left off,” he said.
 
“The American people have made it abundantly that they’re more interested in shrinking unemployment than expanding government,” he added. “They’re tired of bailouts, they’re tired of government spending more than ever at a time when most people are spending less.
 
“And they don’t want the government taking over healthcare; they made that abundantly clear in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”