Martinez plans to ‘work with other side’ in Senate

Sen. Mel Martinez, Florida Republican, wants to make his mark on Social Security and tort reform — two issues expected among the top priorities of the 109th Congress — and to do so by reaching out to Democrats.

Mr. Martinez, the first Cuban-born senator, talked conservative values on the campaign trail in Florida, while stressing the need to “work with the other side” to get things done.

With tort reform on the top of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s agenda, Mr. Martinez will get a good start testing his middle-ground politics in a polarized Congress.

“The problem is the two sides are fixed in the extremes; I see the need for people to come to the middle,” Mr. Martinez said.

“I have a lot of experience in this area coming from a trial lawyer’s background, so I know those guys and their issues. But there are [litigation] abuses and in that area there needs to be reform,” he said.

He said doctors need to be able to do their jobs without also having to be “claims managers,” while giving people who have been legitimately injured the right to equitable compensation.

Although tort legislation will not go through any of the committees on which he serves, Mr. Martinez said he will make his voice heard.

Social Security reform is another area where Mr. Martinez said he will begin in the thick of the issue and try to attract others, making his stand from a seat on the Special Committee on Aging.

Florida long has been home to one of the heaviest concentrations of senior citizens in the country, though this has become less so in the past 15 years.

“I am committed to taking a bold step looking at private accounts while maintaining the system,” he said, adding as a caveat that “I am very concerned about the transitional costs; the $2 trillion price tag is high for me, and I don’t want to add to the deficit.”

Mr. Martinez, who has repeatedly said he is humbled by his election, hasn’t come up with a solution, but says he eagerly anticipates a detailed legislative package from the Bush administration to spark debate in the coming months.

From humble beginnings — living through Fidel Castro’s communist revolution, being separated from his family for four years, learning English, graduating high school and paying his own way through college — Mr. Martinez has been called a testament to American values.

Mr. Martinez, 58, was born in Sagua La Grande, Cuba, in 1946. When he was 15, he came to the United States with missionaries working for Operation Peter Pan, a Roman Catholic Church program that helped more than 14,000 children flee Mr. Castro’s developing tyranny.

He spent his first four years in the United States with two foster families in Orlando, Fla., before being reunited with his parents. He would leave high school and go to work, while also attending Florida State University to receive his bachelor’s degree and then his law degree.

His career spanned 25 years as a trial lawyer before he successfully entered politics by winning the race for Orange County chairman. But he gained a wealth of experience along the way on school and bank boards, chambers of commerce and chairmanships of housing authorities and Little Leagues, in addition to having his own legal practice and serving on law commissions.

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