Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden was in Washington D.C. Wednesday where he gave the keynote address at a conference on bipartisanship. David Nogueras has more.

The conference by the Bipartisan Policy Center brought together current and former members of Congress, the media, pollsters and policy wonks.

The focused on the question: in today's hyper polarized political environment how can policy makers develop solutions that get public support and make real progress.

Senator Wyden offered his thoughts on the question by talking about what he calls "principled bipartisanship". 

Senator Ron Wyden: "And I tried to point out that there was an opportunity for both parties to secure key principles that were important to them and allow them in effect to go to their constituency and say "this is exactly what we've been fighting for."

Wyden also used the opportunity to show off his bipartisan ‘street cred'.

The Senator showcased a tax reform bill he proposed with Republican Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire.

That bill, he says satisfies Democrats and Republicans by providing tax relief for both the middle class and for small business.