“It’s amazing what you can get done if you listen to and respect others’ opinions,” Rob Portman commented recently as he addressed a full house of Government Strategies Group’s clients, business and community leaders to hear from former Senator Portman in his first event as a non-elected official.
After thirty years of serving Ohioans in Washington, first as a US Representative for the OH-2; later, as the United States Trade Representative during the George W. Bush Administration; and most recently as our United States Senator, Rob announced last January that he would not be seeking re-election.
As one of the most prolific legislators in history, Rob authored or co-authored nearly 200 pieces of bipartisan legislation during his time in office. He stated that his greatest accomplishment was the process by which he was able to get things done in Washington: by working across the aisle to find common ground and build coalitions to bring about meaningful results.
According to Rob, one of the greatest physical representations of the value of bipartisanship was the recent announcement about the Brent Spence Bridge. After five Presidential administrations’ promises to do something about the quickly deteriorating bridge resulted in no progress, the project was finally accomplished by working across the aisle. As Rob recalled, “We grew it out from the middle to find common ground that effectively deals with critical infrastructure challenges.” After thirty years of talk, the bipartisan work on this bill enabled this historic investment in infrastructure to finally become reality.
As Rob discussed his greatest accomplishments in Washington, he recalled his work in Ukraine where he focused his efforts since 2014 to help Ukrainians support their quest for freedom. He has traveled to Ukraine many times, co-founded the bipartisan Ukraine Caucus, and wrote into law the Ukrainian Security Assistance Initiative, legislation that has been critical to ensuring that Ukrainians can get the training and equipment they need to stand up to Russian forces. In Rob’s words, “We promised to protect [the Ukrainians] when they decided to join the EU, give up their nuclear weapons, and turn their backs on a corrupt Russian-backed government.”
For all of Rob’s many accomplishments there were also some inevitable frustrations, including his disappointment with President Biden for not working harder on trade agreements. He believes this is a mistake because “trade is a valuable tool critical to maintaining our competitive edge, and we must continue to deploy this tool in service of American workers, manufacturers, farmers, and service providers.” The country’s immigration process has also been an ongoing source of great frustration because “we have to find a proper, legal way to get people through the front door and give people a respectful way to get here. We have too many people coming in illegally and Fentanyl flooding the border is a huge problem,” he said. Rob remains hopeful that Congress can somehow work together to address these issues – but the key is finding common ground to get there.
As far as what is next, Rob said he will likely pursue an academic path and dedicate his time and efforts to encourage civility and public service. Additionally, he may work with a DC-based think tank and he plans to spend time working in his family’s business, The Golden Lamb, Ohio’s oldest continually operating business. He is also looking forward to spending more time with his family and friends.
