Congressional decorum hit a low point last Tuesday, with an outbreak of bad behavior that veered toward violence.
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., accused former House speaker Kevin McCarthy of elbowing him in the back as they passed in a hallway.
That same morning, Sen. MarkWayne Mullin, R-Ark., a former cage fighter, talked smack with a hearing witness. Committee chairman Bernie Sanders had to step in before it came to blows.
Meanwhile in a House hearing, a committee chairman called another member a liar and a Smurf.
“I’ve been really disappointed with what I have seen. And it’s not acceptable,” U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said in an interview in her office a few days later.
She said she and some of her equally dismayed Senate colleagues have been discussing how to reverse the trend.
“To just remind people that relationships matter,” she said. “How we treat one another matters.”
What is she doing to lower the temperature? Murkowski hosted a bipartisan sing-along for senators.
“People are going to think that’s kind of crazy and goofy,” she acknowledged.
It was a few weeks ago. The piano player and lead singer from the jazz-pop orchestra Pink Martini were in town, and Murkowski invited everyone to a Senate reception room to sing.
Murkowski describes it as a mental health break and an exercise in collegiality.
“And 45 minutes is not is not going to cause the world to fall apart,” she said. “In fact, it might help us reframe, refocus and get a little energized about working together.”
And, as a bonus, senators learn who among them has musical talent.
“Tim Cain has a great voice. And Tim brought his harmonica along. He’s pretty good,” Murkowski said of the Virginia Democrat. And Michigan Democrat “Debbie Stabenow has a very nice voice.”
The bipartisan harmonies didn’t end with that informal reception.
After the Senate gathering, Murkowski and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., went to a Pink Martini show in downtown Washington. They hopped on stage to lead the audience through a set that included “Eidelweiss” and “America the Beautiful.”
YouTube videos document that Coons can really belt it out.
And Murkowski?
“I have a lot of enthusiasm,” she said.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
