Harry Reid Introduces America's Priorities Act aka The "Coburn Hold" Bill
By Nicole Belle Monday Jul 21, 2008 6:40pm
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will introduce The Advance America's Priorities Act, otherwise known as the "Coburn holds" package. The following is Senator Reid's statement on the bill as prepared for delivery:
Mr. President, today I am joining with Senators Leahy, Lieberman, Feinstein, Inouye, Kennedy, Boxer, and Biden, to introduce an important bill, with provisions in a variety of areas - from advancing medical research in critical areas, to cracking down on child exploitation, to promoting important U.S. foreign policy goals, to helping improve America's understanding about the oceans. What unites this diverse package of bills? One thing - unprecedented obstructionism.
The bills in this package include initiatives that have broad bipartisan support. Initiatives that have passed the House by 411 to 3; by 422 to 2; by 416 to 0. Many of these initiatives had such strong bipartisan support that they passed the House and Senate Committee by voice vote or even by unanimous consent.
Under normal circumstances, they would have passed the Senate through a simplified and expedited unanimous consent process and become law. Maybe some would have required a period of brief debate before passing the Senate.
But, instead of allowing the will of the Congress and the American people to be heard, Republicans have obstructed one bill after another. Here are just a few examples of the legislation that this bill includes - and that Republicans are preventing from becoming law:
The Emmitt Till Unsolved Crimes bill: Would help heal old wounds and solve crimes that have continued to be unsolved and unpunished since the Civil Rights era.
The Runaway and Homeless Youth bill: Would provide grants for health care, education and workforce programs, and housing programs for runaways and homeless youth.
The Combating Child Exploitation bill: Would provide grants to train law enforcement to use technology to track individuals who trade child pornography. Establishes an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force within the Office of Justice Programs.
The ALS Registry bill: Would create a centralized database to help doctors and scientists treat and hopefully find a cure for ALS/Lou Gehrig 's Disease, which afflicts 5,600 Americans every year.
The Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act: Would enhance cooperation in research, rehabilitation and quality of life for people who suffer from paralysis. Not only will this bill accelerate the discovery of better treatments and cures, but help improve the daily lives of the two million Americans who await a cure.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. These bills address important American priorities, have broad - virtually unanimous -- bipartisan support, yet, all have fallen victim to just one or two Republicans.
Senate Democrats are not willing to allow this obstruction of a few to block the will of the Congress and the American people any longer. 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? I hope Republicans will end their obstruction and work with Democrats this week to pass this crucial and long-overdue legislation. Read on...
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one word:VETO
They'll never get the necessary votes to override a veto.
And somehow, Congress will still be seen as "run by the Democrats" and "ineffectual" and "weak"
constituent @ 1:
I'll put $10 on it, though given that he was over turned on the medical one, maybe he couldn't stop this.
This is not a democracy. It is time to change the rules of the Senate. As it stands now 1 Senator from Alaska can override the will of 99 other Senators.
1 man who required only a few hundred thousand votes can hold up the will of hundreds of millions of people. Its just not right.
Good luck with that.
Cynical? You betcha.
The obstructionist reich-wingers working against America. If the bill contained something on flag burning or gay marriage, they would be jumping at the chance to vote for that.
The Democrats need to take a leaf out of the Republican playbook. Start naming bills which do the complete opposite of the title. (cf The Clean Skies act, or the Patriot Act).
They should have called this the "Millionaires tax credit Act" or the "Make Oil Companies Tax Exempt for Ever Act".
Or the "Climate Change Refutation Act"
Then see how many stupid Republicans will vote for it because they're too lazy to read the actual content.
(Similarly, it might flag stupid Democrats who similarly we'd want to get rid of, since they're apparently the ones fooled by title bait-and-switch like "Clean Skies")
Comments?
Bush will likely veto the Omnibus (mainly because he'll have no idea what the word means), and the Senate may not be able to override. If those two things happen and the Dems do *not* trumpet it to the world, they don't deserve their majority.
A government helping its people is SOOOOOO not republican.
John @ 7:
Now that is a great idea!
Mr Grey @ 10:
Let's try that again:
Actually, they’ve been naming bills the opposite of their intent for at least a century if not since the beginning of the Republic. But to the main point, you could definitely try it, but then what happens when they run attack ads saying “Senator SoandSo (D) voted to pass the “Make Oil Companies Tax Exempt Forever Act”, is this really someone looking out for your interests?”
And they’d get away with it too. Why? Because while congress-critters never read the legislation, the American people certainly do not.
You mean people didn't actually read the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT ACT) before they voted on it? How shocking!
sure! let's pretend the dems have nads.
Is this what Reid gave up FISA for???
Shut the fuck up Harry, the only thing that should be coming out of your mouth is the word impeachment. You are a pussy.
Ummmm.... Harry, remember when Chris Dodd attempted to place a hold on the FISA/amnesty bill? And you refused to honor the hold? And so that bill came to the floor anyway?
What gives? How is it that Republicans are able to effectively obstruct bills with overwhelming support? Oh, right, because you let them! I watched you stand up pretty firmly against those Democrats who wanted to protect the rule of law and use every procedural trick in the book to bring FISA to the floor. So don't pretend you don't know how it's done.
Of course I agree all these issues need to be taken care of, absolutely, but could the leader of the Senate pick any 'safer' issues to get all hot and bothered about?
What about the screamingly urgent issues on your desk, harry? Ever get as indigent about Iranian sanctions? When was the last time you raised your voice about ending the wars? Torture? Habeas Corpus? You pissed off enough to reinstitute the windfall profits tax? Get homeowners immediate relief?
Ever say 'boo' in public, Harry?
The Wanderer @ 8:
C'mon, man. That's demeaning. Everybody knows that "omnibus" means "the bus is everywhere." That is, it's both here...AND there. So to speak.
Harry Reid. Ha ha.
Yeah, he looks like he means business, too.
Bush will sign it with his fingers crossed, then dissolve Congress.
Yeah, funny how Coburn could single-handedly hold all these friggin' bills w/ all this bi-partisan support.
But Harry Reid refused to honor Dodd's hold on the FISA bill.
FUCK YOU, Harry!
What is the matter With Harry?
His leadership is rather scarey
He hems and he haws
or he yacks without pause
And the people should really be warey.
"Cause his bills just don't seem to carry.
That is EXACTLY what Harry Reid intends to do, by the way- "hope Republicans will end their obstruction and work with Democrats".
We will see how this 'hoping' works out for the dems...
Democrats "succeed" by passing bills to help middle class Americans.
Republicans "succeed" by preventing this.
Lieberman? Against child exploitation? I thought he had republican friends.
abarts @ 5:
im a proud American and i cosign this comment!
John @ 7:
I vote for calling it the George W. Bush is The Most Awesome President Ever bill.
i can just about promise you the "Iron-Clad Law of Institutions" will apply:
What The F*ck took them so long to start playing Rethuglican Hardball? Even here, I'll only believe it when I see it!
Dems growing some spine or balls? I haven't seen any of it so far!
jeff @ 9:
Government OF the People - BY the Corporations and FOR the Corporations.
I actually like this plan, just because it's not the pass the bills, but it's to show the Connies are obstructionists. Bill passes, Dems win. Bill defeated or vetoed, Dems use it as fodder to say the reason nothing gets done is because of the connies.
Simple math boys and girls, give Reid a little credit for this one.
Pinky Left Brain @ 15:
Bingo!
bamage @ 22:
Here, here! Harry, you are self discrediting. Go whack off with Nancy Pelosi, you two might as well be masturbating each other for all the Democratic majority has to offer..
does anyone else find it curious that reid has lieberman as a cosponsor? i suspect this bill is going to have more gop muscle behind it than one would initially expect.
watch mccain fall behind it too.
If I was a Repuke I wouldn't want stronger child exploitation legislation either, for obvious reasons. The rest of those bills not getting passed is just plain evil. Why do they hate America?
priorities?
Is this the "good fight" Harry Reid has been keeping his powder dry for?
What a schmuck.
I'm guessing he made an agreement with the Repub putting the holds on the bills, so he could collect them together and then right before re-election (after losing every other fight), bring them out and win one silly little battle. And then say "see how bipartisan we are, and what a good fight I fought"?
And the person who wrote this article fell for it hook, line and sinker.
Look at it this way. If he really wanted to bypass the holds, he could have, just like he refused to honor Dodd's hold.
Dennis Miller is right about one thing: Harry Reid is completely useless. To the American people anyway. To shady corporations, he's probably a nice little tool.
Harry WHO?
John @ 7:
That's assuming the names of these bills haven't already used this trick. My guess is that the "The Combating Child Exploitation bill" means "Anti-net neutrality bill", "The ALS Registry" bill means the "insurance company central database health care denied bill" and so on....
I wonder how much Coburn is being paid to be Norquist's and Rove's lapdog. All so American voters think the congress isn't doing anything. No, Tom Coburn is doing a lot to destroy our country--and some of us will remember.
Seriously, how does one Senator block legislation? Why couldn't anyone do it on FISA? If you understand the rules/terminology that allow those two to happen, I'd appreciate any pointers toward Googling.
You guys seem not to understand what happened and is happening now. Coburn (as any other Senator in my understanding) put a hold on all of the bills coming in to be a jackass, meaning that in order to pass any of them there would have to be significant time spent on cloture and floor debate that the Senate was trying to allocate to other, more controversial bills. Putting them all together in one omnibus bill avoids having to do all the procedural motions on each individually.
It's isn't like one Senator "stopped" the bills all by himself. But he was able to make them more difficult to pass, and worth less than the time they would require was worth. Quit being mad at the Dems in Congress when it's one Senator being a dick.
Just as Ms. Pelosi is vying to keep her job in the next Congress, so is Mr. Reid -- this response to her claim that the House has all but delivered legislative slam-dunks to the Senate under her tenure is awfully lame. I really find it hard to believe that voters will continue to vest Democrats into the Senate - they are having little luck dealing with the Executive, other than holding Inquisitions at the DOJ.
Harry and Nancy must go!!!!!!!!
I call it the Coburn Enema Bill. It's going to be a real mess when it goes through.
"Why didn't you honor Sen. Dodd's hold on FISA"
You have to understand what a 'hold' is. It is one Senator saying to the leadership, "If you bring this bill up, I will exercise my rights under the rules to delay its consideration." He/she does this by refusing every request for unanimous consent to expedite consideration. So, to continue, the bill's proponents have to invoke the cloture process, which takes days and days of legislative time that cannot be used for other legislative activity.
For FISA, this was done. Cloture was invoked, the debate happened, and the bill finally passed, despite Dodd's (and others) efforts prevent its passage, because the proponents had the votes.
Individually, the bills in the 'Coburn' package don't enjoy that kind of support, for whatever reason. However, bundled together, it is certainly worth the Senate's time and effort to proceed without unanimous consent expediting.
I for one do not believe those who rail against Pelosi and Reid in this forum both (1) know what they're talking about and (2) are actually Democrats.
Only republicans can hold a bill in the Senate.
Coburn is a crazy right wing conservative, but I respect him. His one driving mission in DC is to put an end to pork projects. Read this article and then question Reid's new bill:
http://men.style.com/gq/features/full?id=content_5318
"Senate Democrats are not willing to allow this obstruction of a few to block the will of the Congress and the American people any longer."
Did he consider this allowance acceptable until recently? The bill is titled "American Priorities Act", but does not address bringing an end to the War in Iraq or a restoration of our Fourth Amendment. While I am not trying to say that dealing with problems like unsolved mysteries and runaways are unimportant, I do feel that calling them "priorities" is a stone cold cop-out - especially when the will of the American majority predominantly calls for federal funding for stem cell research, an end to the Patriot Act, and some kind of a solution to overpriced healthcare.
Harry, didn't your mother tell you not to waste paper?
Progressive Libertarian @ 17:
GOD DAMNED RIGHT!
Repukes screwing the people, gotta honor it. Democrats defending the people and the constitution; shut up and sit down!
Fuck Harry Reid, and the traitorous corporate horse he rode in on! Two-faced back-stabbing SOB!!!!!!!!!!!!
John Casey @ 48:
I for one think you are a moron and a troll!!!
And if Pelosi and Reid represent what the Democratic party is in 2008, then I guess I am not a "dumbocrat."
Furthermore, the Senate majority leader and committee leaders can kill anything, anytime they want!
Why is it all the repukes have to do is say filibuster or hold, and the democratic leadership caves? They don't even bother with the so-called procedures. End of discussion. But if a majority of their own caucus opposes legislation, they still bring it up for a vote so the other party can get what they want! WTF????
Reid knows the repukes are neo-fascist goons that will always vote unanimously to screw the people on behalf of the mega-rich corporate elites. He is supposed to be using the Leaders gavel to fight these bastards.
Frankly, I am sick and tired of morons like you making excuses for these repuke-lite traitors.
JimboSlice @ 4:
Little Tommy Coburn, the Coburn in the "Coburn holds" package is from Oklahoma, not Alaska, if that is what you were trying to say. Bad doctor and even worse Senator, that Little Tommy C. Andrew Rice hopes to unseat LTC's best buddy Inhoffe so hopefully Oklahoma won't have two brain dead republicans representing it after Nov. 2.
And yes, the Democratic congress, both the House and Senate, regardless of republican obstruction, has been ineffectual. To try and argue otherwise means you have absolutely no grasp at all about what has been going on in congress since 2006, John at comment 2.
NoGWBpolicyleftinplace @ 53:
...and, he's anti-abortion.
bamage @ 22:
My thoughts exactly! There must be some major 'lubrication' going on back there, in order for this shit to occur.
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