The Lugar Center and Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy unveiled their most recent update to the annual Bipartisan Index, ranking Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) as the 16th most likely U.S. Representatives to work across party lines during the 114th Congress. The Index is a non-partisan tool, ranking all 535 members of Congress on their willingness to reach across the aisle by evaluating legislation sponsorship and co-sponsorship data.
 
“It is an honor to be recognized on the Bipartisan Index, and I thank the Lugar Center and Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy for recognizing the importance of bipartisan cooperation,” said Congressman Bishop. “If we are to serve our districts effectively, we must be willing to work across the aisle. We must focus on our common goals, instead of our narrow divisions. And we must recognize that solving the difficult issues facing our country will require a collaborative and deliberative approach to governance.”
 
“Despite the highly charged political environment of the past several years, Congressional bipartisanship did improve in the 114th Congress as compared to the 113th Congress,” said Lugar Center President Richard G. Lugar, who served for 36 years as a Republican senator from Indiana. “The Index shows that many senators and representatives raised their scores in the 114th Congress, so we are encouraged to see that even many lawmakers with strong ideological positions have found more common ground with their colleagues across the aisle. Cooperative efforts to address real challenges is what the American people want to see from their leaders, and we are hopeful it will be a growing trend during the 115th Congress.”
 
“Good policy requires effective politics,” said Edward Montgomery, dean of the McCourt School. “We are never going to solve the policy challenges we face without cooperation between our political parties. We are encouraged to see more members of Congress reaching out to work with those across the aisle. ”
 
The update to the Bipartisan Index measures bipartisanship during the full 114th Congress, including both 2015 and 2016. The data shows overall improvement in bipartisanship when compared to data for the 113th Congress (2013-14), which was one of the most partisan Congresses of the past 20 years.