— Grandmas just want what's best for their grandchildren.

But they also want what's best for their country, and it all starts with Congress, according to a pair of grandmothers from the Somerset section of town.

Marilyn Altman and Janet Hirschfeld — both Franklin Township neighbors and grandmothers — have kickstarted what they call a grassroots effort to get each member of the Congress to take a pledge of civility.

"What we really want, more than anything, is for our grandchildren to live in a world that is civil," Hirschfeld said Wednesday.

Altman has five grandchildren and Hirschfeld has two.

The pledge — which came about after an afternoon pool conversation at the Somerset Run community — has received more than 200 signatures from grandmothers across the United States, including New Jersey, New York, Florida, Connecticut, Missouri, Arizona and California.

But Altman said that's not enough.

"We want to get a group of grandmas in every congressional district, who believe in civility, who are going to watch their members of congress to make sure their representatives are representing them in a way they'd want their grandchild to hear," she said.

The pledge reads:

As an honorable member of Congress I pledge to deal with differences stated by others in an honorable manner. I pledge to listen and hear. I pledge to argue in a robust and civil manner. I pledge to work together to bridge gaps in order to solve our nation's problems. I pledge to honorably represent my towns, cities and state and all American with the idea as stated in our Pledge of Allegiance: that we are one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Altman and Hirschfeld said their goal for the pledge is to publicly honor the members of Congress who choose to sign.

"The pledge signers become the models for the nation's grandchildren. The pledge signers demonstrate America is truly a wholesome country where value is placed on developing minds and character," the document reads.

"This country was built on building and forging a country where people work together — middle class, upperclass, everyone," Altman said.

U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton) is in full support of the grandmothers' effort, he said Wednesday.

"With Washington just as partisan today as before Election Day, civility is needed now more than ever," said Lance, a member of the bipartisan Congressional Civility Caucus.

Lance said a greater bipartisanship leads to a more civil Congress.

But U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-West Windsor)

that he did not see a need to sign the pledge, because respect and civility are already part of his everyday actions.

"We're working on clarifying what our position is, because we know Mr. Holt will be the first to sign, along with Leonard Lance, because this is a congressperson who has always worked across the aisle," Altman said. "We feel we didn't explain our position well enough, and we want people to sign this because they understand."

But Altman and Hirschfeld said they won't send the pledge out to any members of Congress until they have signatures from grandmothers in each of the nation's 535 districts.

Kent Roberts, director of the National Civility Center, said his organization is in full support of the grandmothers' civility pledge.

"I think grassroots ideas are always the best. We strongly believe we need productive discourse within our communities and within government," he said.

"Without intentionality, this will not happen and our country will continue to remain deeply divided. We share so much, but do not have the space/forum to discover what that may be. With the 'hate brokers' dominating the airwaves and others practicing 'gotcha journalism,' it is hard to create the opportunity for building dialogue."

Roberts said many people are vested in keeping Americans separate and pitted against one another.

"Efforts like the ones being suggested can help and hopefully one day a critical mass of people/elected officials will say enough and start finding viable solutions," he said.

Hirschfeld said this year's national election is what really made her determined to start the pledge.

"I thought once the election was over, the rhetoric would end," she said.

She said she's sick of Democrats and Republicans fighting and calling each other names, instead of working together to build a better America.

"You can disagree without being disagreeable," Altman said.

"They have to understand they represent people who have grandchildren, who are very concerned about what's going to happen," Hirschfeld said.

She said she is very concerned for her 16-year-old granddaughter, who is soon going to start thinking about college.

"Getting jobs out of school is a whole new concern for my granddaughter's generation," she said. "I don't care if the Democrats improve it, or if the Republicans improve it — I just want to see this country move forward."

"My grandchildren are 4, 6, 8, 10 and 17 — they know there are only two rules in my house: be kind and be safe," Altman said.

Hirschfeld cited an incident at her granddaughter's high school in Morristown, where a boy she knew committed suicide because he was bullied. The child was beaten up, bullied — but even after the bullies were reported to the police and put in jail, the boy was so worried that they would come after him, that he killed himself.

in the incident that resulted in the teenager's suicide, according to The Star-Ledger.

"I don't want my granddaughter to live in a world like that," Hirschfeld said. "I want the people who lead this country to think of who's coming behind them."

Any grandmothers looking to sign the pledge, can e-mail

.

Altman and Hirschfeld said they are also hoping to attract a college student to intern and help them with outreach over the computer — they specifically are interested in a student from the Eagleton Institute of Politics, a nonpartisan research institution within Rutgers University.

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