'The answers are out there. Now it is time to get to work.'

In an open letter to our nation’s leaders, featured today in The Washington Post and The Hill, BPC called on elected officials to shift from campaigning to governing. 

The letter, entitled, “Let’s Get To Work,” was signed by 46 members of BPC’s leadership, including founders and former Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole and George Mitchell. Also endorsing the call for bipartisanship were 17 former Members of Congress, Cabinet officials, presidential appointees, six former governors and private sector leadership.

In the letter, the leaders urged our elected officials to get to work on bipartisan solutions to “some really big problems.”

“The tone and substantive achievements of the upcoming weeks will set the course for 2013 and could dramatically impact market confidence and the economic recovery,” the letter states. “BPC and others are developing a wealth of pragmatic solutions to address our federal debt, economic competitiveness, energy, health care, immigration and housing. The answers are out there. Now it is time to get to work.”

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Signatories

Senator Howard Baker (R-TN)

BPC Founder

Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD)

BPC Founder

Senator Bob Dole (R-KS)

? BPC Founder

Senator George Mitchell (D-ME)

BPC Founder

Senator Bill Frist (R-TN)

Co-Chair, Health Project

Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)

Co-Chair, Energy Project

Senator Pete V. Domenici (R-NM)

Senior Fellow Co-Chair, Debt Reduction Task Force

Dennis Archer (D-MI)

BPC Board of Directors Fmr. Mayor, Detroit

Norman R. Augustine

BPC Board of Directors Chair, American Energy Innovation Council

Martin Neil Baily

Co-Chair, Financial Regulatory Reform Initiative Fmr. Chairman, CEA

Representative Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY)

Senior Fellow

Senator Christopher S. “Kit” Bond (R-MO)

Co-Chair, Housing Commission

Governor Phil Bredesen (D-TN)

BPC Governors’ Council

Sheila Burke

BPC Board of Directors Co-Director, Health Project

Steve Case

Co-Chair, Democracy Project CEO, Revolution

Ralph Cavanagh

BPC Board of Directors NRDC

Secretary Henry Cisneros (D)

Co-Chair, BPC Housing Commission Fmr. Secretary, HUD

Senator John Danforth (R-MO)

Senior Fellow

John Doerr

American Energy Innovation Council Partner, KPCB

Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND)

Co-Chair, Energy Project

Governor Jim Douglas (R-VT)

BPC Governors’ Council

Marvin S. Fertel

Leaders’ Council President, NEI

Jane Garvey (D)

BPC Board of Directors Fmr. Administrator, FAA

Secretary Dan Glickman (D)

Co-Chair, Democracy Project Fmr. Secretary, Agriculture

Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA)

Co-Chair, Transportation Project

Jason Grumet

BPC President

Representative Lee H. Hamilton (D-IN)

Co-Chair, Homeland Security Project

Robert J. Henkel, FACHE

Leaders’ Council CEO, Ascension Health

Governor Brad Henry (D-OK)

BPC Governors’ Council

Larry Higby

BPC Board of Directors Chairman, New Majority California

Chad Holliday

Chair, American Energy Innovation Council

Walter Isaacson

BPC Board of Directors CEO, Aspen Institute

Chris Jennings

Co-Director, Health Project

Governor Frank Keating (R-OK)

BPC Board of Directors CEO, American Bankers Association

Tom King

Leaders’ Council President, National Grid

Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL)

Co-Chair, BPC Housing Commission Fmr. Secretary, HUD

Governor Sonny Perdue (R-GA)

BPC Governors’ Council

William K. Reilly (R)

Co-Leader, Energy Project Former Administrator, EPA

Alice Rivlin (D)

Co-Chair, Debt Reduction Task Force Fmr. Director, CBO and OMB

Senator Charles Robb (D-VA)

BPC Board of Directors

Governor Mike Rounds (R-SD)

BPC Governors’ Council

Secretary Donna Shalala (D)

Co-Chair, Nutrition and Physical Activity Initiative Fmr. Secretary, HHS

Scott D. Sheffield

Leaders’ Council CEO, Pioneer Natural Resources

Frances Fragos Townsend

BPC Board of Directors

Secretary Ann M. Veneman (R)

? Co-Chair, Nutrition and Physical Activity Initiative Fmr. Secretary, Agriculture

Mark Walsh

BPC Board of Directors