Shorty
after Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) was elected, Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told Moran that the Senate would not do anything
until after the 2012 presidential election.
"I was standing on
the Senate floor and I was approached by Sen. Reid," Moran said during a
speech Thursday hosted by the Ripon Society. "I knew Sen. Reid from my
days in the House. Sen. Reid had a locker just a few down from me in
the House gym, and we’d see each other each morning for a long number of
years. And Sen. Reid that day, in a casual conversation, asked me,
‘Jerry, how do you like the Senate?’ My response was that I’m very
grateful for the opportunity that I’ve been given. But Leader, we’re
not doing anything. Sen. Reid’s response was, ‘Jerry, you need to
understand that we’re not going to do anything until after the
election.’"
Moran recounted the story while he was
explaining what prompted him to take a job as chairman of National
Republican Senatorial Committee.
"When you get elected to public office, and there are very few elections that are easy and most of us are motivated by the desire to do something, and to be told at that stage —almost two years before the next election— that nothing was going to be done, was an eye-opening experience to me and was very troublesome," Moran said.
"And so
my interest in serving in the NRSC capacity really revolves around a
desire to see the Senate function, to have regular order, to have the
opportunity for Americans to see their Senators have a debate, to have
votes occur and to have the country see the Senate move in the direction
it ought to go."
Reid's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Moran
was appointed chairman of the NRSC in late 2012 and immediately named
Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) as vice chairmen.
