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Surely we can agree on lunch: Maine lobster, Virginia ham on menu at bipartisan Senate lunch

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From left, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine and Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. arrive for a bipartisan lunch in the Kennedy Caucus Room on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans and Democrats are minding their bipartisan manners over lunch on Capitol Hill.

The lunch in the ornate Kennedy Caucus Room is hosted by Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia and features their respective states’ iconic ingredients: Maine lobster and Virginia ham.

Lawmakers have long complained that members of Congress don’t socialize or really know each other, leading to a polarization of the parties. The bitterness caused congressional business to come to a near-halt periodically in recent years. Forty-six of 100 senators are in their first term, never having known the Senate any other way.

With the 2014 midterm elections putting the Senate under Republican control and increasing the GOP majority in the House, members of Congress have sought a fresh start.

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