Compromise is essential to the business of the United States Congress.

To make a representative democracy work, the Republicans and the Democrats in both chambers have to reach compromises. They have to make deals in which both sides get some of what they want and neither side gets everything it wants. This kind of back and forth dealing has been going on since Congress first convened after the Constitution was ratified. It will continue.

In fact, now is a good time for Congress to return to what sometimes seems like the lost art of compromising. U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, the Republican who is Iowa’s senior senator, said during a recent visit to Fort Dodge that a compromise could be within reach on new legislation to combat the economic fallout of COVID-19.

Despite the injection of some $3 trillion worth of federal spending and virtually unprecedented actions by the Federal Reserve, the economy remains sluggish. Democrats and Republicans in both houses of Congress generally agree that something more needs to be done. But they differ, sometimes significantly, on what that something is.

There are a lot of things being discussed, including unemployment benefits and assistance to state and local governments that saw their revenues evaporate during the pandemic. But when Grassley visited Fort Dodge Aug. 13, he told The Messenger that he believes it’s possible a deal could be worked out in just one meeting if all involved got serious.

Grassley, who has been in Congress for 45 years, starting as a representative in 1975 before moving to the Senate in 1981, is well-positioned to know what’s possible when it comes to making laws.

We urge senators and representatives to heed Grassley’s wisdom and get busy working out a compromise. The people who elected them deserve no less.