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发帖数: 4174 | 1 Posted on Advocate.com December 08, 2010
Story Updated : December 09, 2010 06:00:00 AM
Reid Stalls DADT Vote After Collins Talks
By Michelle Garcia and Kerry Eleveld
Sen. Susan Collins On Wednesday evening, Senate majority leader Harry Reid
postponed a full vote in the Senate on the bill that includes language to
repeal the military's ban on openly gay and lesbian troops. The roll call
vote is now scheduled to take place around 12:00 p.m. Thursday, shortly
after votes on the DREAM Act and the 9/11 firefighters health and
compensation bill.
The postponement came after an afternoon of negotiations where independent
Sen. Joe Lieberman served as a de facto intermediary between Sen. Reid and
Republican senator Susan Collins, who supports the repeal of "don't ask, don
't tell" but wants a "fair and open" process for the Defense Authorization
spending bill, which contains the DADT repeal provision.
As a result of the talks, Senate Republicans would have the opportunity to
propose 10 amendments to the defense funding bill, and Democrats could
propose five. Each amendment would be subject to two hours of debate.
Collins declared, before the postponement, that she would not vote to bring
the bill to the Senate floor if it were scheduled to take place Wednesday
night, as earlier reports had indicated. Instead, the senator from Maine
said Republicans would block the legislation until Congress formally
addresses whether to extend the Bush-era tax cuts.
"I reminded the majority leader, as has Senator [Joseph] Lieberman, that
everyone on the Republican side wants to see the tax package completed first
[before the defense authorization bill is brought up]," Collins said in a
statement released Wednesday evening. She stipulated that if Reid postponed
the vote until after the tax vote, "I'll do everything I can to help him
proceed to the bill. But if he does not do that, then I will not. This is
the same position that I've had all along ... if you really care about the
defense authorization and the repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell,' then you
would accept the proposal."
Since the defense bill vote is now scheduled before the tax package will be
considered, it's outcome is highly unpredictable. Capitol Hill insiders
generally believe it could fall either way. A successful vote on the motion
to proceed Thursday, however, would only be the first step in the process of
considering the bill and would not guarantee final passage of repeal.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Wednesday afternoon
that President Barack Obama has made several calls to Democrats and
Republicans to win their support in repealing "don't ask, don't tell" and
passing the DREAM Act, which offers a path to citizenship for immigrants.
"I think we are — on 'don't ask, don't tell,' I think we are very, very
close to seeing that repeal pass," Gibbs said. "You’ve had important
endorsements over the past few days. And I think, in many ways, as a result
of the process and the survey that the Pentagon issued last week, the
president is hopeful and encouraging Democrats and Republicans to get behind
that repeal."
Below is the full statement Sen. Collins released Wed. evening on the
Defense authorization negotiations:
WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins, who supports repeal of “Don’
t Ask, Don’t Tell,” released this statement tonight.
“Senator Joe Lieberman and I continue to negotiate in good faith with the
Majority Leader to try and come up with a fair process under which the
important Defense Authorization bill could be considered in the limited time
remaining in this session. Without a fair process, the motion to proceed to
the bill would likely fail in the U.S. Senate.
"Senator Lieberman and I requested a meeting with Senator Harry Reid last
week during which we outlined a specific plan for allowing debate and
amendments similar to how the Senate has considered the authorization bill
in the past.
"It wasn’t until 1:35 pm today that I received a legitimate offer from
Senator Reid, which I consider a good starting point. We made a counter
offer which would provide sufficient time for debate, and includes
protections to help ensure that Republicans would be able to offer a limited
but fair number of amendments that are relevant to this legislation.
"I am encouraged that the Majority Leader decided to postpone the vote he
had scheduled for tonight. I urged him to do this so that we could consider
the tax legislation first, which I believe could be on the floor as early as
tomorrow and completed quickly. At that point, I believe we could move
immediately to the Defense Authorization bill under a fair agreement, and I
would vote to do so. I would hope he carefully considers our proposal. I
believe we have outlined a very clear path forward for the Majority Leader
to take that would allow this very important debate to occur." |
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