During the month of June I had the opportunity to attend the Sorensen Institute at The University of Virginia with 30 of the brightest minds from around the Commonwealth of Virginia. The purpose of the Sorensen Institute is to prepare its attendees for active political leadership here in Virginia, connect us with various leaders from across our state and with one another, and to engage us in the political process. I defiantly believe that Sorensen succeeded at accomplishing those three things.
From my Sorensen experience I truly grasped one important concept one that I think will stick with us as many of my Sorensen friends begin there political careers and that is the importance of bipartisanship. It is so important especially today as our state battles complex issues such as transportation, higher education, and health care that lawmakers in Richmond work together across party lines.
We have recently seen how important working together in a bipartisan manner is with the recent special session which was focused on transportation. Lawmakers racked up a $117,000 tab that was paid for by the taxpayers and they saw that absolutely nothing was accomplished. Democrats huddled in one corner crying out for one policy change and Republicans hudled in another corner crying out for something completely different. And the person sitting in a 3hr long traffic jam in Northern Virginia cryed out because absolutely nothing was done to solve a problem that continues to haunt Virginia drivers.
That is why the mission of Sorensen Institute is more important today than ever before. We need qualified person's who have the knowledge and nohow to get things done for the betterment of our Commonwealth. With the recent graduation of the Sorensen Institute College Leaders Class of 2008 we are the newest bunch of young Virginia faithful who have been prepared and equipped to go out and affect change across our state.
~CamPatt~
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