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Thursday, August 31, 2006

BYRD ADMITS HE PLACED A HOLD, NOW LIFTS IT

By Rebecca Carr | Thursday, August 31, 2006, 03:39 PM

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd admits that he placed a “secret hold” on legislation that would make uncovering the Byzantine world of federal contracting as easy as typing a Google search.

Tom Gavin, spokesperson for Byrd, confirmed to Cox Newspapers that the senator placed the hold on legislation introduced by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., before voting on the measure.

Byrd joins Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, for holding up the bill right before Congress left town on August 4.

Byrd merely wanted more time to evaluate the legislation that would create a new database of some $2.5 trillion in federal spending on contracts, loans, financial assistance and insurance.

“Senator Byrd wanted time to read the legislation, understand its implications, and see whether the proposal could be improved,” Gavin said.

Byrd has released his hold, now that there “has been time to better understand the legislation,” Gavin said.

“Senator Byrd believes that the bill should be debated and opened for amendment, and not pushed through without discussion,” Gavin said.

“There was an effort to pass a bill on an important subject without debate just before the Senate recess,” Gavin said. Senators have an obligation to their constituents to know what they are voting on before signing off on any proposal, he said.

“On August 2, the last day before a month-long Senate recess, a Senate committee gave its approval to a brand new piece of legislation, cosponsored by Senator Obama and Senator Coburn,” Gavin said. “That same day, there was an effort to rush the legislation through the Senate without any Senator having the chance to ask questions,” he said.

Actually, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs unanimously approved the measure on July 27, the record shows. And an oversight committee held a hearing on the measure on July 18.

Gavin explained in a follow up interview that the bill didn’t reach the rest of the senators until August 2.

The bipartisan “secret hold” surprised everyone on Capitol Hill because the measure has the support from heavy hitters of both political parties, including Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

But Byrd is unapologetic about using his hold power.

“The American people ought to demand that bills receive scrutiny by senators before those bills are approved,” Gavin said. “We have seen the consequences of rushing legislation through the Senate without any time for review or understanding.”

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IS BYRD THE OTHER SHOE?

By Rebecca Carr | Thursday, August 31, 2006, 01:36 PM

Did Alaska Republican Ted Stevens act alone?

That’s the lurking question in the whodunnit mystery surrounding the “secret hold” placed on legislation that would open up the murky world of federal spending is this.

The answer appears to be no.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., chief sponsor of legislation that would create a searchable database of some $2.5 trillion in federal spending, was informed on August 29 at 6:57 p.m. that a Democratic senator had placed a hold on the bill.

Thanks in large part to the conservative and liberal bloggers who have called every Senate office to determine who is responsible for that hold, it appears that 98 senators have denied placing the hold. That leaves Stevens and Sen. Bob Byrd, D-West. Va., a fellow appropriations king, to blame.

“We believe there is a Democratic hold and we believe Senator Byrd is the likely suspect based on the bloggers’ investigative work,” said John Hart, spokesperson for Coburn.

As for Coburn’s attempts to answer Stevens’ concerns about cost… Stevens’ staff has spurned repeated attempts by Coburn’s staff to meet.

“We have made repeated attempts to sit down with Stevens staff to address their concerns,” Hart said. “So far, they haven’t followed through with any of our requests.”

Stevens staffers did not return phone calls seeking comment.

As for the cost—it’s pretty strange that Stevens wasn’t aware that a Congressional Budget Office report had already predicted that the cost would be $15 million over five years for the database. Strange, because Stevens sits on the committee that has jurisdiction over the Coburn measure.

As chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Stevens has overseen the passage of some 40 bills during the the 109th Congress. Those bills are expected to increase federal spending by at least $89 billion over the next five years, according to CBO estimates.

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