Reid fed up with ‘obstruction’

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid appears headed for a new showdown with Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican and Senate maverick who has blocked dozens of bills he believes are flawed or should be fully debated before they are passed.

To Reid and other Democrats -- and even some Republicans -- Coburn is a gadfly who routinely delays seemingly noncontroversial bills and who can be an unyielding adversary.

"For those of you who may not know this, you cannot negotiate with Coburn," Reid told reporters earlier this month. "It's something that you learn over the years, that it's a waste of time.''

Coburn and his allies, including Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., see it another way. The Oklahoman is characterized as a Senate watchdog, challenging conventional thinking and seeking full debate on bills that could cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

"The fact that he wants things paid for, that is a good thing, that is fiscal discipline," Ensign said Tuesday.

Senate procedure allows individual senators to place "holds" on bills. The majority leader -- Reid -- does not have to recognize holds, but by custom they are usually honored. Sixty votes are needed to pass a bill over a senator's objection.

Coburn, a conservative from Muskogee who was an obstetrician, usually has 70 to 80 holds in place at any one time, aide Don Tatro said.

Frustrated by continuing delays on bills that enjoy broad support except for being held up by one or two senators, Reid on Tuesday set in motion a strategy to force Republicans to break with their Oklahoma colleague.

Reid, the Senate majority leader, brought to the Senate floor a package of 35 bills he said enjoyed "virtually unanimous" bipartisan support. Normally they would be passed swiftly, he said.

"But instead of allowing the will of the Congress and the American people to be heard, Republicans have obstructed one bill after another," Reid said in a statement.

"Senate Democrats are not willing to allow this obstruction ... any longer," he said. "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?"

This is not the first time Coburn and Reid have clashed. In April the Senate passed dozens of public lands bills wrapped into a package to sidestep objections from the Oklahoman. Coburn was allowed to offer four amendments, which all failed before the bill was passed 91-4.

The bills submitted Tuesday included the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, which would award grants for paralysis research; the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Registry Act, which would establish a national database for victims of Lou Gehrig's Disease; and the Vision Care for Kids Act, which would authorize $65 million over five years in grants for children's eye screening and treatment.

Also in the package are the Emmitt Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act, which would establish an unsolved crimes unit in the Justice Department's civil rights division; and the Drug Endangered Kids Act, which would extend a federal grant program for children exposed to drug abuse.

Other bills would pay for a War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission, authorize a study abroad program, provide state grants to promote the deployment of affordable broadband, and prohibit the commercial sale of monkeys and apes.

Reid said he planned for the Senate to vote on the package, on Saturday or Sunday if necessary.

Coburn charged Reid was trying to steamroll the Senate into passing bills without full debate. His office estimated the 35-bill package authorizes more than $11 billion in federal spending while creating at least 34 new federal programs.

Tatro said Coburn "is looking at anything procedurally that can be done" to waylay the bill. "We are ready for it."

While bills to fight crippling diseases are commendable, Coburn said, the Reid bill "does so ineffectively, by duplicating spending and existing programs that have not demonstrated true results."

"This legislation prioritizes the parochial wishes of many senators above the true needs of the American people," Coburn said in a bill summary posted on his Web site. "It is unfortunate the majority leader has chosen to spend time on this legislation."

Ensign said Tuesday he was troubled by how the issue was playing out in the Senate, but did not know how he would vote.

"Individual senators have rights, and to try to destroy some of the traditions of the Senate, I think is a dangerous precedent to be setting," he said.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-763-1760.