Reid calls for passage of lands bill, Republicans underscore opposition

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called Friday for passage this year of a package of more than 100 land and water bills. But Republicans quickly underscored their opposition to portions of the legislation, arguing it has little chance of gaining the necessary votes for passage.

“I want to get this package done before Congress adjourns,” Reid said in a statement Friday evening. “These are bipartisan bills. There is nothing divisive about protecting historic battlefields, improving our most critical water sources, or making sure that our best wildlife habitat remains wild and healthy.”

On Thursday, Reid expressed doubt that the package could pass. "I sure would like to get it done, but I'm not sure we can," he told reporters in the Capitol.

The omnibus lands legislation is a compilation of more than 110 bills that have been considered by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee, the Commerce Committee and the Indian Affairs Committee. The bills are packaged together with the hopes of overcoming a Republican filibuster.

While many of the bills in the package are not controversial, some face significant Republican opposition. Robert Dillon, spokesman for Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), told The Hill that the bill has no chance of passing this year. Murkowski is the ranking Republican on the energy committee.

“While Republicans support some of the measures included in the package, they do not support the bill as a whole,” he said. “A smaller package might have had a good chance of passing earlier in the year. It is now too late for such a solution.”

“I think this is just politics,” said Matt Dempsey, spokesman for Sen. James Inhofe (Okla.), ranking Republican on the environment panel.

“There were a number of bills that we could support, but unfortunately they packaged it with a bunch of bills that we can’t support,” he said.

Dempsey specifically cited the senator’s objections to a bill that would give the Environmental Protection Agency authority to restore the Chesapeake Bay and he said Inhofe was concerned about the cost of the package.

This post was updated at 6:21 p.m.