Greg Awtry

This is an invitation for Michigan’s 13 Congressional Representatives, two United States Senators, Representatives Jack Bergman, John Moolenaar, Hillary Scholten, Bill Huizenga, Tim Walberg, Debbie Dingell, Tom Barrett, Kristen McDonald Rivet, Lisa McClain, John James, Haley Stevens, Rashida Tlaib, and Shri Thanedar; Senators Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin.

On Thursday, June 26 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, there will be a one-hour Bicameral Meeting sponsored by NoLabels in the Capitol Visitor Center. Members of the House and Senate who are dedicated to working on our nation’s major issues, regardless of party affiliation, will be there to meet, talk, and strategize in a casual atmosphere. Ryan Clancy from NoLabels said, “The goal is to begin an honest conversation about how we can move forward together as one nation.”

Michiganders know the courage it took all of you to step up and run for office. We know the courage it took to put your name out there for us to judge. We know the courage it takes to lead in troubled times.

We know that party affiliation is demanding, but the message we the voters see most often is the partisan divisiveness that overrides the real task of solving problems.

We also know that we are all Michiganders and, regardless of party affiliation, we have a lot more in common, and want basically the same things from our government. We want a strong economy, clean air and water, affordable and accessible health care, safety and security, excellent education, fairness in taxes, immigration reform for this century, not the last one. We want a long-term plan to solve the growing debt and deficit crisis, and long-term solvency in Social Security and Medicare. The list goes on.

And, we know that in 2024 when Gallup asked 12,000 Americans what party they identified with, 43% identified as Independent while only 27% identified as Democrats and 27% identified as Republicans. The top five issues Americans identified that need immediate attention were Economy, Health care, Immigration, Social Security and number five is Political Polarization and Dysfunction.

We know the balance of power in Washington is divided by the smallest of margins. All of you live in that world every day, but we don’t.

We know this is America and we can do and accomplish anything we set our minds to. Meaningful change will only come about if Washington learns to work together like the millions of Michigan workers do every single day. When a school needs built, we don’t refuse to work with builders if they are members of another party. The same is true when we build roads, repair cars, go to church, or football games. We are in it together.

We elected you to represent all 10 million Michiganders, not just those who voted for you or belong to your party. We expect you to do whatever is in your power to move our country forward by successfully addressing our most pressing needs.

So I am asking all of you to attend this one-hour meeting on June 26, showing all of us that you do indeed put country and the people over party and you are willing to meet and work with any and all that can help achieve our goals.

Everyone in the nation is encouraged to virtually attend this same meeting on Zoom. I can’t imagine a better or stronger message you can send to Michiganders than to let us see all 15 of you walk into this meeting together, en masse, united, regardless of party and willing to listen and learn and to seek out possible paths to a brighter future for Michiganders and all Americans.

I mentioned the courage it took for you to get where you are. Do you have the courage to walk into this meeting together, restoring our faith in the government of the greatest nation on earth? Do you have the courage to begin to heal the poisonous partisanship which hinders what could be if we could even find slivers of common ground?

Michigan needs you there. Show us the courage we know you have. For our Congressional and Senatorial members, you can simply respond to Margaret White at margaret@Nolabels.org and tell her you will be there.

For Michiganders or anyone who wants to virtually attend this one-hour Bicameral Meeting at the Capitol, you can register for the Zoom meeting at https://join.nolabels.org/062625.

Let the healing begin on June 26. Let’s map out a plan of action and cooperation on June 26.

If anyone has questions, feel free to let me know at gregawtry@awtry.com.

Greg Awtry is the former publisher of the Scottsbluff (Neb.) Star-Herald and Nebraska’s York News-Times. He is now retired and living in Hubbard Lake. Greg can be contacted at gregawtry@awtry.com.