|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
Dick Durbin's Senate
|
|---|
| Parent(s) |
Candidate
|
| Contributor | COSDem |
| Last Edited | COSDem Nov 28, 2005 01:22pm |
| Logged |
0
|
| Category | Commentary |
| Media | TV News - CNN |
| News Date | Monday, November 28, 2005 07:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | On November 16, as Congress raced to adjourn for Thanksgiving, Senate Democratic Whip Richard J. Durbin found time to sit down with Republican political activist C. Boyden Gray. It was unpleasant for Gray, who followed with what looked like a pre-arranged letter of apology to the senator. After that, Durbin was reported to have lifted the "hold" blocking Gray's confirmation as U.S. ambassador to the European Union (EU).
That very day, Durbin engaged in public confrontation with Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, the Senate's president pro-tem. Durbin took the Senate floor to accuse Stevens of making it easier for oil executives to lie to Congress. When Stevens demanded an apology under the rules, Durbin refused on grounds the rules did not apply.
I have been watching the Senate for nearly 49 years, and there once was a time when Durbin's busy November 16 would have attracted attention. But it went virtually unnoticed. The Senate has hardened, and so has Dick Durbin. A career politician from downstate Illinois, he always was partisan, but he was viewed as an amiable fellow with a ready smile. Today, at 61, he leads the charge against George W. Bush and Republicans, firing all weapons at hand.
Durbin's opposition appears to be the reason Gray's nomination by President Bush for the EU post has languished since July. Gray, a prominent 62-year-old Washington lawyer with distinguished public service, including White House counsel in the elder George Bush's presidency, was blocked by several senators from a vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But Durbin's opposition was the key. |
| Share |
|
|
2¢
|
|
| Article | Read Full Article |
|
| Date |
Category |
Headline |
Article |
Contributor |
|
|
