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Jul. 23, 2008
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Reid fed up with 'obstruction'

Majority leader seeks to sidestep senator from Oklahoma

By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

Tom Coburn
Conservative senator usually has 70 to 80 'holds' on bills, a Senate staffer says



Harry Reid
Nevada senator wants to force Senate Republicans to break with Coburn

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid appears headed for a new showdown with Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican and Senate maverick who has blocked dozens of bills he believes are flawed or should be fully debated before they are passed.

To Reid and other Democrats -- and even some Republicans -- Coburn is a gadfly who routinely delays seemingly noncontroversial bills and who can be an unyielding adversary.

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    • "For those of you who may not know this, you cannot negotiate with Coburn," Reid told reporters earlier this month. "It's something that you learn over the years, that it's a waste of time.''

    Coburn and his allies, including Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., see it another way. The Oklahoman is characterized as a Senate watchdog, challenging conventional thinking and seeking full debate on bills that could cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

    "The fact that he wants things paid for, that is a good thing, that is fiscal discipline," Ensign said Tuesday.

    Senate procedure allows individual senators to place "holds" on bills. The majority leader -- Reid -- does not have to recognize holds, but by custom they are usually honored. Sixty votes are needed to pass a bill over a senator's objection.

    Coburn, a conservative from Muskogee who was an obstetrician, usually has 70 to 80 holds in place at any one time, aide Don Tatro said.

    Frustrated by continuing delays on bills that enjoy broad support except for being held up by one or two senators, Reid on Tuesday set in motion a strategy to force Republicans to break with their Oklahoma colleague.

    Reid, the Senate majority leader, brought to the Senate floor a package of 35 bills he said enjoyed "virtually unanimous" bipartisan support. Normally they would be passed swiftly, he said.

    "But instead of allowing the will of the Congress and the American people to be heard, Republicans have obstructed one bill after another," Reid said in a statement.

    "Senate Democrats are not willing to allow this obstruction ... any longer," he said. "Republicans will have a choice: Will they join the side of the American people, or continue to stand beside one or two colleagues intent on blocking progress?"

    This is not the first time Coburn and Reid have clashed. In April the Senate passed dozens of public lands bills wrapped into a package to sidestep objections from the Oklahoman. Coburn was allowed to offer four amendments, which all failed before the bill was passed 91-4.

    The bills submitted Tuesday included the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, which would award grants for paralysis research; the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Registry Act, which would establish a national database for victims of Lou Gehrig's Disease; and the Vision Care for Kids Act, which would authorize $65 million over five years in grants for children's eye screening and treatment.

    Also in the package are the Emmitt Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act, which would establish an unsolved crimes unit in the Justice Department's civil rights division; and the Drug Endangered Kids Act, which would extend a federal grant program for children exposed to drug abuse.

    Other bills would pay for a War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission, authorize a study abroad program, provide state grants to promote the deployment of affordable broadband, and prohibit the commercial sale of monkeys and apes.

    Reid said he planned for the Senate to vote on the package, on Saturday or Sunday if necessary.

    Coburn charged Reid was trying to steamroll the Senate into passing bills without full debate. His office estimated the 35-bill package authorizes more than $11 billion in federal spending while creating at least 34 new federal programs.

    Tatro said Coburn "is looking at anything procedurally that can be done" to waylay the bill. "We are ready for it."

    While bills to fight crippling diseases are commendable, Coburn said, the Reid bill "does so ineffectively, by duplicating spending and existing programs that have not demonstrated true results."

    "This legislation prioritizes the parochial wishes of many senators above the true needs of the American people," Coburn said in a bill summary posted on his Web site. "It is unfortunate the majority leader has chosen to spend time on this legislation."

    Ensign said Tuesday he was troubled by how the issue was playing out in the Senate, but did not know how he would vote.

    "Individual senators have rights, and to try to destroy some of the traditions of the Senate, I think is a dangerous precedent to be setting," he said.

    Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-763-1760.

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    Alice Henning wrote on July 24, 2008 05:47 PM: SDen. Reid should be ashamed of himself. Why pay for a museuM in Poland?
    We're broke now, STOP IT NOW!.
    DO SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE FOR THE US,
    not the Democratic party!. You deserve to be voted out of office. DISGUSTING!
    HOORAY FOR SEN. COBURN!
    And you want to tax my SS for a spendthrift like you! NO WAY!


    workerbee wrote on July 23, 2008 09:16 PM: I will never vote for anyone with the last name of Reid after I seen what this flake does, go to mexico with all your illegal alien supporters.
    I have yet to meet someone that supports this idiot, so how do he get elected?


    Vindictive wrote on July 23, 2008 04:41 PM: Well if it ain't the pot calling the kettle black! Who has used every tactic in the book to delay and obstruct the construction of the Yucca Mountain repository? Everything and anything he can think of is placed in the way of this repository which we most definitely need in this country. And all the while, delay after delay is costing the taxpayers of this country literally billions of dollars, and for what? Mr. Reid, you have a lot of gall and audacity to be calling someone ELSE an Obstructionist. To be sure you know what one is, just look in the mirror and what is staring back at you tomorrow. There you will find the answer.


    two much tax Tom wrote on July 23, 2008 12:31 PM: Ellen! You hit a home run with you article.


    Ellen Dailey wrote on July 23, 2008 12:23 PM: Good for Tom Coburn, Senator, OK and anyone of the Republicans who have a backbone. The Democrats plan to grow government so large that they control what you drive, where you live, what temperature you keep your home, what you eat, how much you eat and just tax the hell out of you to pay for their bloated government programs. So happy to see a Republican stand up for a change. The ones with no backbone, will hopefully be voted out of office, because they truly just don't get it!!! Say no to bigger govt. and higher taxes.


    muah wrote on July 23, 2008 11:46 AM: The reps and dems care only about 3 things:

    -Increasing their party's political capital
    -Repaying the favors of those that helped build political capital
    -Increasing their OWN political/financial capital

    Where do the average American citizens fit into this? WE DON'T! Not unless you've paid into the system of raising political capital, that is.


    two much tax Tom wrote on July 23, 2008 11:45 AM: Our obstructionist senator reid wants to raise the gas tax ten cents at a time that gas price here in Vegas is over four dollars a barrel. The airlines are taking a hit with high oil price and are charging higher fare. This is a big hit on our tourist industry. They will cut back on fights into Vegas and next big hit is going to be a big down turn in gaming. The high gas price has discouraged people from Calif. to visit Vegas. Yes it is great that our senator reid wants to raise taxes to ruin-in our economy.


    muah wrote on July 23, 2008 11:42 AM: Republicans AND democrats are anti-American and any support for either of these parties can only be obstructionist. Time to drain the swamp, just like pelosi said, only didn't do.

    To all who would say, yes, let's change the parties. Well, they've been in control and FIRMLY entrenched in beltway and state and local politics ALL OF OUR LIVES (even you old ancient people!) There is no changing that. It is time to completely dismantle them, like they were aging nuclear weapons, and DISPOSE OF THEM!

    This can be an opportunity to START FRESH. Or, you can follow the sheep in front of you, like you've been doing, and enjoy the results.

    The winds of same blow real hard!


    Continuum wrote on July 23, 2008 11:34 AM: What will the neocon gadflies say, when the Reid omnibus bill passes with over 90 votes in the Senate? At this time, even the Republican kool-aid drinkers will no longer tolerate Coburn's ego.


    two much tax Tom wrote on July 23, 2008 11:27 AM: Lets take a look at who is the obstructionist! Sr bill 3202 is in front of the senate and our get leader in the senate will not bring it to the floor. The bill if passed would bring down oil and gas by at leased a dollar a barrel and 75 cents overnight. The bill would let the drilling of the outer banks and in An-War Alaska and the oil shale in the western states. Oil would be delivered to the refineries by the end of 2010 and 2011. I would make it easier to build refineries here in the US and develop the use of nat. gas for our cars. Right now we need relief from the high prices of oil and gas and our senator reid is obstructing it.


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