OMAHA — Don’t give up on bipartisanship, Sen. Mike Johanns says.

“It’s definitely not dead,” Nebraska’s new Republican senator said during an interview Friday at the end of a weeklong congressional recess.

Bipartisanship “just needs to start at the beginning” of legislation, Johanns said, not at the end when Republican votes are sought for a Democratic bill that’s essentially been written.

Sitting at a table in Starbucks a block away from where he lives in downtown Omaha, Johanns talked about the massive economic stimulus package he opposed and the legislative Goliaths that lie ahead.

The ‘no’ votes he’s been casting in Washington are neither partisan nor obstructionist, Johanns said. 

They represent fundamental differences in political philosophy, he said, including his opposition to a stimulus bill that will result  in $1 trillion in deficit spending.

Johanns thinks he can see some ‘yes’ votes coming for President Barack Obama’s initiatives.

“I think there’ll probably be substantial agreement between us on alternative energy,” he said.

Ethanol, biodiesel, wind energy development.

“And I’m sure there are some areas of agreement on health care reform,” he said.

But the key to more bipartisan support for major legislation is to deal Republicans in from the start, Johanns said.

“Sit down with the committees of jurisdiction,” he counseled.  

“With everyone there from the very beginning, let’s talk and work together,” he said.

“I think the spirit is good.”

The stimulus bill essentially was crafted by House Democrats before it reached the Senate for modification, Johanns said.

The result, he said, was no Republican votes in the House and only three in the Senate.

“I hope we all learned something from that,” he said.

Johanns said he appreciated Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson’s invitation to join Senate centrists from both sides of the aisle in revising and scaling down the House plan.

“To his credit, he invited me to the first meeting (and) he called me a number of times,” Johanns said.

“I could see there was an attempt to downsize the package, but I could see that was going to be hard to do.”

Although Republicans are in the minority, Johanns said, they can help influence legislation within the committee structure.

“Maybe you shape it enough to turn it into a ‘yes’ vote,” he said.  “Or, perhaps you make it as good as it can be.”

Johanns expressed concern about rising trade protectionist sentiment in the United States in the midst of a global recession.  That protectionist streak peeked through in a buy-American provision inserted into the stimulus bill.

“We need to remember we have the largest economy in the world, and the world wants access to our economy,” he said.

Obama ought to be granted presidential trade promotion authority so the United States can negotiate trade agreements, Johanns says.

That congressional grant of authority means the Senate and the House must either accept or reject negotiated agreements without the opportunity to propose amendments.

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.