Sen. Wyden, WTF?!?!
by George SeldesJuly 15th, 2007 at 19:36:29
I’m stunned and saddened to see Ron Wyden’s name on this list.
Lifted from Crooks and Liars:
It’s been almost three weeks since I last wrote about the status of cosponsorship on the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007, a bill by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) that would “…restore habeas corpus for those detained by the United States.” At that point, the legislation had 23 cosponsors — 22 Democrats and Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont — and I thought I would check back in today and see who has stepped up to show leadership on this issue since then.
With the addition over the last couple of weeks of Senators Byrd, Carper, Klobuchar, McCaskill, Menendez and Nelson (Bill), there are 28 Democratic Senators, along with Sanders, cosponsoring Specter’s S. 185, which could very well come up for a vote next week as an amendment to the Defense Department authorization bill. [..]
So I again raise the question: Where are the other Democrats?[..]
The following Democratic Senators have still not signed up to cosponsor the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007:
- Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
- Max Baucus (D-MT)
- Evan Bayh (D-IN)
- Robert Casey (D-PA)
- Kent Conrad (D-ND)
- Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
- Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
- Tim Johnson (D-SD)
- Herb Kohl (D-WI)
- Mary Landrieu (D-LA)
- Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
- Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
- Patty Murray (D-WA)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Mark Pryor (D-AR)
- Jack Reed (D-RI)
- Charles Schumer (D-NY)
- Jon Tester (D-MT)
- James Webb (D-VA)
- Ron Wyden (D-OR)
Again, I put it to you that it lies with us to pierce through the Beltway bubble. Please contact these Democrats (especially if you’re in their district) and ask them why they have not gone on record restoring this basic civil (and human) right.
July 15th, 2007 at 8:29 pm
It’s not a huge deal that he hasn’t co-sponsored the bill, as long as he votes for it. It would be ridiculous for every member to cosponsor every bill that they support. Very few bills have a working majority of cosponsors (51 in the Senate, 218 in the House).
July 16th, 2007 at 12:19 am
FYI, while he hasn’t sponsored the bill by Arlen Specter (R-PA), he has co-sponsored the bill by Chris Dodd (D-CT).
That’s S.576, the “Restoring the Constitution Act of 2007″.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:21 am
Oh yeah, full disclosure: I built Senator Wyden’s website, StandTallForAmerica.com, but I speak only for myself.
July 16th, 2007 at 12:24 am
The original post, btw, had this statement:
In fairness, you should have quoted that much, too.
July 16th, 2007 at 11:13 am
FYI: I just talked to someone in Wyden’s office. It’s their view that the Dodd bill is a stronger, better bill than the Specter bill. They expect that the Senator will vote for the Specter bill if it comes to the floor, but that they don’t expect him to co-sponsor the Specter bill - in hopes of pushing it closer to the Dodd bill.
July 16th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Kari, thank you for explaining WTF. I could look it up, but you seem well-informed — did Sen. Wyden vote for the Military Commissions Act in the first place?