Thursday, May 26, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Reid: Democrats will now move on
Senate minority leader considers filibuster fight over
By TONY BATT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., meets with reporters Wednesday before the Senate voted 55-43 to confirm Priscilla Owen as a federal appellate judge, ending the four-year ordeal of the Texas jurist who was thrust into the center of the battle over President Bush's judicial nominations.
Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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WASHINGTON -- Seeking to put the bitter fight on filibusters behind them, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said Wednesday that Democrats plan to move on to other business.
At a news conference, Reid and other party leaders identified issues they plan to emphasize for the remainder of the year, including health care, defense, retirement security, economic prosperity and energy independence.
Reid was scheduled to lay out details in a speech today at the National Press Club.
After a last-minute compromise late Monday shelved a showdown over Senate filibuster rights, Reid said "we can now deal with real problems. And we're going to do that. Let's start being positive."
"The real winner in all this are the people who work on the Las Vegas Strip, who work at the Nevada Test Site, who work all over Nevada and all over the other 49 states," Reid said.
Reid said he had a "nice" conversation Tuesday with U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
But when asked why President Bush seemed to be having problems with his legislative agenda, Reid said, "I don't know what his legislative agenda is. We've been wasting all this year on five (judicial nominations)."
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters Wednesday that Congress has passed important reform legislation on bankruptcy and class action lawsuits in just over four months.
"So there is important progress there," McClellan said.
Reid refused to discuss Bush judicial nominees on Wednesday, but held out the possibility that Democrats may filibuster the nomination of John Bolton to be the new ambassador to the United Nations.
