Reid says Democrats will reach out to Bush on Iraq

[Ron Burgundy]

Reuters - Incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Saturday that Democrats will reach out to Republicans on Iraq and economic issues as he outlined the priorities for the next Congress under Democratic control.

In the weekly Democratic radio address, Reid said President George W. Bush's decision to replace Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was a good start in changing the course in Iraq.

"Now, working together, we must craft a new way forward -- one that allows Iraq to be stabilized, and our troops to begin to come home," the Nevada senator said.

One day after congressional elections that put Democrats in charge of the 110th Congress that convenes in January, Bush announced Rumsfeld would leave his post and he nominated former CIA director Robert Gates to replace him.

"On Iraq, and elsewhere, Democrats pray the president will work with us, because we're ready to work with him," Reid said.

On the economy, Reid said Democrats would "reach out to Republicans to raise the minimum wage, provide tax relief for working families, cut the cost of health care and make college more affordable."

Reid also said that Democrats would seek to expand stem cell research. In July, Bush vetoed a bill that would have expanded embryonic stem-cell research, which scientists say could help find cures for illnesses such as Parkinson's and diabetes.

Democrats would also seek changes in the Medicare drug benefit program to help close gaps in coverage and allow the government to negotiate lower drug prices, Reid said.

"America always works best when Congress and Washington operate as the Founding Fathers intended: with bipartisanship, and a Congress that serves as a separate but equal branch of government, and not a rubber stamp for the executive," he said.