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Weekend votes stall Iraq trip for 3 senators |
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By J. Taylor Rushing
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Posted: 01/08/09 01:12 PM [ET] |
Three senators have pulled out of a trip with Vice President-elect Biden to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan because of the Senate’s expected votes this weekend.
Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) will be staying in Washington to vote on a massive package of 164 bills that is being held up by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.).
Biden is still making the trip, as is Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Biden’s office confirmed Biden and Graham left on the trip Thursday, and Kerry, Reed and Collins had notified Biden they will be staying behind.
The news suggests Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) may not be bluffing in his threats to hold the Senate in session on Saturday and Sunday. Kerry said Reid did not ask the senators not to go on the trip, but did speak to them and stressed the urgency of the votes.
“There are 160-odd bills in there, major bills that many of us have wanted for a very long time,” Kerry said in an interview with The Hill on Thursday. “It’s very important to make sure it happens and the leader said it was important to him.
“And I made a judgment that it was important to be here,” added Kerry, who had already visited several of the countries on a trip last month.
Reid announced Wednesday that the Senate would vote on Sunday on the package of bills that Coburn is holding up. The Oklahoman has long complained about the Senate’s penchant for passing legislation unanimously, sometimes with little scrutiny.
The specific countries visited on the congressional trip were supposed to be secret for security reasons, but Biden told reporters Tuesday in a Senate hallway.
“This will be my — God knows how many trips — I guess my 10th or 11th trip into Iraq, and I don’t know how many times into Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Biden said. “I wanted to see firsthand … where I think things stand in each of those countries.” |
