(CNN) -- The United States Senate's proud slogan -- "world's greatest deliberative body" -- seems out of place in the current atmosphere where distrust and bitterness dominate and persuasion and freewheeling debate seem like relics of a bygone era. But on Wednesday, senators will take small steps aimed at restoring their "deliberative" functions when they take up a minor, non-confrontational, bipartisan bill providing block grants for child care programs. What separates this bill from any other in recent memory is that Democratic leaders, who control the floor, won't dictate what amendments get debated and put up for a vote. They've refused to do that in the past, fearing Republicans would load bills with unrelated "gotcha" amendments designed to punish Democrats politically.
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Effort led by two senators aims to restore some semblance of deliberation
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They'll try to get things going on a non-controversial child care bill
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Senate has been gripped by partisan battles
Bipartisan bills dealing with sentencing reform, energy efficiency, and manufacturing innovation fit that description and could be considered next, a @placeholder aide said.