Congress needs to embrace more “humility” and break down partisan walls to address the nation’s problems, former defense secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday.
Speaking to a group of Denver business and civic leaders as part of DaVita Inc.’s Town Square speaker series, Gates said the “dysfunction” within Congress makes the United States one of its own greatest enemies.
“Much of the dysfunction comes from an unwillingness to put aside the short-term partisan gain and ideological purity for the long-term benefit and, above all, unwillingness to compromise,” Gates said.
Gates said he was still optimistic about the nation’s future.
“Even though the United States faces enormous obstacles, most of them are self-inflicted, and we have the power and the means to overcome them, just as we have done in the past,” Gates said.
Before serving as secretary of defense, Gates was the director of the CIA under President George H. W. Bush. Bush’s son, President George W. Bush, appointed Gates as secretary of defense in 2006. He held that position into President Barack Obama’s first term, retiring in 2011.
In addition to discussing the state of the nation’s domestic politics, Gates spoke about international issues, such as how the U.S. should handle Iran and China, and recent revelations about NSA surveillance of U.S. citizens.
Gates said the dialogue about the balance between privacy and security has been ongoing since the nation’s founding. He said that what offended him most about Edward Snowden’s actions was that Snowden took it upon himself to leak information instead of going through established institutions.
“We have created institutions to deal with that kind of a dialogue, including an open press, and the kind of actions that Snowden has undertaken — or, for that matter, Bradley Manning — is an order for chaos,” Gates said.
Matthew Patane: 303-954-5224, mpatane@denverpost.com or
