Hello again policy list,
Please see the article below discussing moves by democrats
in the Senate to begin to overcome the holds that Senator Coburn and other have
placed on roughly 80 bills. Possibly helpful in designing Jubilee Act
strategy?
Best,
Danielle
Danielle Pals
Advocacy Fellow
Jubilee
202-783-0214
danielle@jubileeusa.org
Democrats Target
Coburn’s Holds
Senate Democrats are setting up
a showdown with a thorn in their side:
Majority Leader Harry Reid
and other top Democrats have decided to bundle an undetermined number of bills that
have at least one thing in common: Coburn has blocked them by exercising a
hold.
Packaging the mostly unrelated
measures would give Democrats a chance to illustrate one of their election
themes: The majority must resort to extreme measures to move bills that would
be passed easily if Republican obstructionists would allow votes.
“Bills that are
non-controversial, that move the country forward, albeit in a small way, are
being blocked, and we’re going to have to do something about that,”
said Charles E.
Schumer of
The Democratic strategy, likely
to play out during July, will test party loyalties. Republicans will have to
decide whether to advance bills they support or stand behind Coburn as he
demands the ability to debate and amend bills on the floor.
Coburn said Tuesday he is
prepared to dig in his heels and make it tough for Democrats to pass their
package unless he is permitted to offer amendments.
“The fact is, if they
come to the floor it’s going to take a while to move it if we don’t
get any amendments,” Coburn said. “There might be a filibuster or
two in real terms.”
In December, Reid, D-Nev.,
negotiated with Coburn to move a package of public land bills (PL 110-229) that
Coburn had threatened to block. Coburn was offered the chance to offer some
amendments — although there was no promise made about any specific
amendment.
Majority Whip Richard J.
Durbin , D-Ill., said Tuesday that Democratic leaders have
not promised Coburn he will be able to offer amendments to the planned package.
Durbin said one bill likely to
be part of the package is a Reid-sponsored measure (S1382) to create a registry
of those suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou
Gehrig’s disease.
Coburn opposes that bill,
contending that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already has the
authority to create such a registry. “We’re going to start making
decisions that we should have the researchers making — and I’ll
fight every one of those,” he said.
Coburn Will Need Help
Durbin estimated that Coburn
has holds on about 80 bills, a figure Coburn said sounded accurate.
Democrats Target
Coburn’s Holds
“These are
non-controversial, bipartisan bills that he just doesn’t like,”
Durbin said.
No list of Coburn’s
targets exists, because Democrats have not taken the steps needed to publicly
expose them.
Holds are traditionally
recognized as a privilege of individual senators, but the ethics and lobbying
overhaul enacted last year (PL 110-81) requires that a lawmaker publicly
explain the reasons for a hold within six days of using one to block a bill.
To trigger that requirement,
Reid would have to formally try to call up each Coburn-targeted bill on the
Senate floor. Coburn then would have six days to identify himself or drop his
hold.
But the Democrats’ bid to
flush out Coburn’s holds could become difficult as well as tedious. If
the Oklahoman got help from some GOP colleagues, they could force the majority
to stop and restart the six-day clock repeatedly as one senator dropped a hold
on a bill and another senator slapped one on — a tactic known as an
“anonymous rolling hold.”
A floor debate in December,
during which Reid and other Democratic leaders complained about GOP tactics,
provides clues to other bills Democrats might try to free from Coburn’s
hit list.
Democrats complained then that
Republicans were blocking legislation that would authorize funding for
investigations of pre-1970 civil rights crimes (HR 923), expand paralysis
research (S 1183) and provide grants for closed captioning of broadcasts (S
675).
The public lands package, which
combined dozens of small bills designating new park, wilderness and scenic
areas, is the model as Democrats put together their next Coburn-thwarting
maneuver.
To ease passage of the public
lands measure, Reid promised Coburn the chance to offer a limited number of
amendments.
But after the majority leader
objected to a Coburn proposal that would have eased restrictions on firearms in
national parks, the package stalled for months, prompting Coburn to charge that
Reid reneged on their agreement.
Coburn eventually got to offer
four amendments — all of which were defeated — but not the guns
measure.
Coburn was one of four
senators, all Republicans, who ultimately voted against passage of the public
lands bill.
This time around, Reid could
file a motion to limit debate on taking up the new package and either strike a
deal with Coburn to allow specified amendments or, more likely, employ a
parliamentary tactic known as “filling the tree” to block
amendments. Reid could then file a cloture motion on the underlying bill. If
Reid can muster at least 60 votes, he could pass the legislation despite any
objections.
Democrats Target
Coburn’s Holds
One way or another, Durbin said, “We are going to
get to a vote.”
“These
are non-controversial, bipartisan bills that he just doesn’t like,”
Durbin said.
No
list of Coburn’s targets exists, because Democrats have not taken the
steps needed to publicly expose them.
Holds
are traditionally recognized as a privilege of individual senators, but the
ethics and lobbying overhaul enacted last year (PL 110-81) requires that a
lawmaker publicly explain the reasons for a hold within six days of using one
to block a bill.
To
trigger that requirement, Reid would have to formally try to call up each
Coburn-targeted bill on the Senate floor. Coburn then would have six days to
identify himself or drop his hold.
But
the Democrats’ bid to flush out Coburn’s holds could become
difficult as well as tedious. If the Oklahoman got help from some GOP colleagues,
they could force the majority to stop and restart the six-day clock repeatedly
as one senator dropped a hold on a bill and another senator slapped one on
— a tactic known as an “anonymous rolling hold.”
A
floor debate in December, during which Reid and other Democratic leaders
complained about GOP tactics, provides clues to other bills Democrats might try
to free from Coburn’s hit list.
Democrats
complained then that Republicans were blocking legislation that would authorize
funding for investigations of pre-1970 civil rights crimes (
The
public lands package, which combined dozens of small bills designating new
park, wilderness and scenic areas, is the model as Democrats put together their
next Coburn-thwarting maneuver.
To
ease passage of the public lands measure, Reid promised Coburn the chance to
offer a limited number of amendments.
But
after the majority leader objected to a Coburn proposal that would have eased
restrictions on firearms in national parks, the package stalled for months,
prompting Coburn to charge that Reid reneged on their agreement.
Coburn
eventually got to offer four amendments — all of which were defeated
— but not the guns measure.
Coburn
was one of four senators, all Republicans, who ultimately voted against passage
of the public lands bill.
This
time around, Reid could file a motion to limit debate on taking up the new
package and either strike a deal with Coburn to allow specified amendments or,
more likely, employ a parliamentary tactic known as “filling the
tree” to block amendments. Reid could then file a cloture motion on the
underlying bill. If Reid can muster at least 60 votes, he could pass the
legislation despite any objections.
One
way or another, Durbin said, “We are going to get to a vote.”
One
way or another, Durbin said, “We are going to get to a vote.”
Thomas
Chupein, Policy Fellow
American
Friends Service Committee
202.483.3341
x112
tchupein@afsc.org