The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) is a Washington, D.C.–based
think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-govern ...
that promotes
bipartisanship. The organization aims to combine ideas from both the Republican and Democratic parties to address challenges in the U.S. BPC focuses on issues including health, energy, national security, the economy, housing, immigration, infrastructure, governance, and education. BPC was founded in 2007 by former
Senate Majority Leaders
Howard Baker
Howard Henry Baker Jr. (November 15, 1925 June 26, 2014) was an American politician and diplomat who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1967 to 1985. During his tenure, he rose to the rank of Senate Minority Leader and then ...
,
Tom Daschle
Thomas Andrew Daschle ( ; born December 9, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from South Dakota from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he became U.S. Senate Minority Leader in 1995 a ...
,
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his t ...
, and
George J. Mitchell
George John Mitchell Jr. (born August 20, 1933) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A leading member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator from Maine from 1980 to 1995, and as Senate Majority Leader from ...
. As of 2021, the founding and current president is
Jason Grumet.
History
While BPC was formally launched in March 2007, the organization's roots trace back to 2002, when the National Commission on Energy Policy (NCEP), predecessor to BPC's current Energy Project, was founded.
On June 17, 2009, BPC's Leaders Project on the State of American Health Care released a report, ''Crossing Our Lines: Working Together to Reform the U.S. Health System.'' The report, which came at the height of the
health care reform debate in the United States, laid out plans to help states establish insurance exchanges and lower costs. Former Senate Majority Leaders and BPC Co-Founders
Howard Baker
Howard Henry Baker Jr. (November 15, 1925 June 26, 2014) was an American politician and diplomat who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1967 to 1985. During his tenure, he rose to the rank of Senate Minority Leader and then ...
,
Tom Daschle
Thomas Andrew Daschle ( ; born December 9, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from South Dakota from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he became U.S. Senate Minority Leader in 1995 a ...
, and
Bob Dole
Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his t ...
crafted the report.
On November 17, 2010, BPC's "Debt Reduction Task Force" released its report, ''Restoring America's Future'', in an effort to influence the debate over the national debt. The Task Force, led by former
Senate Budget Committee Chairman
Pete Domenici and former White House Budget Director and Federal Reserve Vice Chair
Alice Rivlin, was a bipartisan group of former White House and
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filin ...
officials, Senate and House members, governors and mayors, and business and labor leaders. Their report was released two weeks prior to that of President Obama's
National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.
On May 23, 2011, House Minority Whip
Steny Hoyer
Steny Hamilton Hoyer (born June 14, 1939) is an American politician and attorney serving as the U.S. representative for since 1981 and as House Majority Leader since 2019. A Democrat, Hoyer was first elected in a special election on May 19, 19 ...
called for a balanced approach to deficit reduction in a speech at BPC. Hoyer said that both the White House's
National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform and BPC's Debt Reduction Task Force "place a high priority on fairness, and strike a...more even balance between cutting spending and raising revenue."
On October 26, 2011, BPC launched the Housing Commission, a bipartisan effort led by
Kit Bond,
Henry Cisneros
Henry Gabriel Cisneros (born June 11, 1947) is an American politician and businessman. He served as the mayor of San Antonio, Texas, from 1981 to 1989, the second Latino mayor of a major American city and the city's first since 1842 (when Juan ...
,
Mel Martinez
Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to:
Biology
* Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL)
* National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL
People
* Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (includin ...
, and
George J. Mitchell
George John Mitchell Jr. (born August 20, 1933) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A leading member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator from Maine from 1980 to 1995, and as Senate Majority Leader from ...
. The Commission released its final recommendations to reform the nation's housing policy in 2013, which included views on the most effective role of the federal government in helping to shape the nation's future housing landscape.
On March 21, 2012, BPC hosted "A Century of Service" at the
Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium
The Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium (originally named the Departmental Auditorium) is a 750-seat historic Neoclassical auditorium located at 1301 Constitution Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. The auditorium, which connects two wings of the William Jeffe ...
in Washington, D.C. The event was a tribute to BPC founders and former Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker and Bob Dole. Speakers included Vice President
Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid, Republican Leader
Mitch McConnell
Addison Mitchell McConnell III (born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and retired attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky and the Senate minority leader since 2021. Currently in his seventh term, McCon ...
, and Senators
Pat Roberts and
Lamar Alexander. Former Senate Majority Leader
Tom Daschle
Thomas Andrew Daschle ( ; born December 9, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from South Dakota from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he became U.S. Senate Minority Leader in 1995 a ...
, a BPC founder, and former Leaders
Trent Lott and
Bill Frist, both BPC Senior Fellows, also made remarks. To highlight the accomplishments and contributions of the honorees, BPC unveiled two short films that offer a glimpse into the respective careers of Baker and Dole.
In 2013, BPC launched the Commission on Political Reform to investigate the causes and consequences of America's partisan political divide. Senators Tom Daschle, Trent Lott, and Olympia Snowe along with Secretary Dan Glickman and Governor Dirk Kempthorne announced a set of recommendations in June 2014. Over the course of 18 months, the commission, a group of thirty Americans from all political stripes, engaged concerned citizens across the country through town hall events and national surveys to develop the reforms.
In 2015, BPC announced the creation of the Congressional Patriot Awards, a biennial recognition given to two current or former members of the U.S. House of Representatives–one Democrat and one Republican–who have performed patriotic deeds worthy of remembrance. The first awards were given to Representative
Sam Johnson
Samuel Robert Johnson (October 11, 1930May 27, 2020) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for in Congress from 1991 to 2019. He was a member of the Republican Party. In October and November 2015, he was the acting ...
, a Republican from Texas, and Representative
John Lewis
John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...
, a Democrat from Georgia, in a ceremony at the Library of Congress on March 15, 2016.
In March 2017, BPC celebrated its tenth anniversary at the
Newseum in Washington, D.C. During the event, former Vice President
Joe Biden was honored with the organization's Patriot Award.
In January 2018, BPC started the American Congressional Exchange program. In the program, members of congress agree to visit, for one weekend, a member of the opposite party in that member's district. That member, in turn, reciprocates the following year or when schedules permit.
Podcast
The Bipartisan Policy Center hosts a podcast titled "BPC Weekly" highlighting their organization's work.
Political action committee
BPC partners with a
political action committee called BPC Action. BPC Action is "committed to seeing bipartisan policy solutions enacted into law", and "
orksclosely with
ts501(c)(3) partner, the Bipartisan Policy Center, to advance smart policies through the legislative process".
BPC Action is a separate, 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization.
References
External links
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Political advocacy groups in the United States
Political and economic think tanks in the United States
Centrist political advocacy groups in the United States
2007 establishments in Washington, D.C.