As he approaches the end of a 48-year Senate career, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., warns that partisanship is ruining Congress.
Leahy, in an interview with The Associated Press, said the major parties need to work together for the good of the country.
"If we don't get back to it, this country is going to be severely damaged," he said. "We're the wealthiest, most powerful powerful nation on Earth. And we have over 300 million Americans. We have responsibility to the Americans. We have a responsibility to the rest of the world."
Leahy, 82, said that when he entered the Senate in 1975, colleagues on opposite sides of the aisle found ways to get things done.
"I think then, most of [the members] knew there were basic things the Senate should do, basic things the country needed, and we should find a way to come together," Leahy said.
"Now, there are too many people who think, 'What can I say that will get me on the evening news or give me a sound bite or get me on this Twitter account,' or something else. They don't care about the country. They care about their political ambitions."
During his final address to the Senate on Tuesday, Leahy urged his colleagues to put the country's needs first.
"What a journey. What an abiding hope that someday after I've gone, the Senate in both parties will come back together to be the conscience of the nation," he said from the floor. "Together, you can build a Senate defined not by soundbites, but one strengthened when women and men with a sense of history insist that our republic move forward."
Leahy, who as president pro tempore of the Senate is third in line to the presidency, will leave office on Jan. 3, when Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., replaces him.
As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Leahy played a major role in negotiations for a compromise $1.7 trillion government funding package. He said the process toward an agreement on the legislation could be an example on how to work together.
"I never called a press conference during that time, nor did the other senators in there," he said. "We just tried to work. There is so much legislation that doesn't get passed but it should because everybody's running out trying to get their spin on it, and say, 'See, I'm the only one who knows what I'm doing.' But you're not."
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