- 12/15/10 02:21 PM ET
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) blasted Senate Republicans on Wednesday for suggesting that working through the Christmas holiday was disrespectful.
Reid sharply criticized GOP senators who have complained that the unfinished business on the Senate schedule could keep the body in session up until next week's Christmas holiday.
"It's offensive to me and millions of working Americans for any senator to suggest that working through the Christmas holiday is sacrilegious or disrespectful," Reid said on the Senate floor.
The top Democrat's remarks come amid a power play in the Senate on Wednesday over the chamber's schedule, and just how much Democrats will be able to pass during the waning days of the lame-duck Congress.
Reid had targeted this Friday, Dec. 17, for adjournment, but has now said the Senate will likely have to work into the weekend and possibly next week in order to accomplish its unfinished business. The Senate passed a tax-cuts bill Wednesday afternoon, and sought to begin debate on the New START nuclear arms treaty. Other items on the agenda include a bill to fund the government that must be authorized by Saturday, and the DREAM Act, an immigration bill.
Republicans have chafed at the schedule throughout the lame duck, especially since they picked up seats in the November elections and will have more power when a new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 5.
"It is impossible to do all of the things that the majority leader laid out without doing — frankly, without disrespecting the institution and without disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians and the families of all of the Senate, not just the senators themselves but all of the staff," Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), the second-ranking Senate Republican, said Tuesday.
Adding to the calendar woes was Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-S.C.) move on Wednesday to force a reading of the treaty and the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill in order to stall action on the Senate floor.
Reid said he didn't need "sanctimonious reminders from Senators Kyl and DeMint on what Christmas means."
The Senate last year worked until Christmas Eve to pass a healthcare reform bill .
"We could work, as most Americans do, during the holidays," the Nevada Democrat said. "The mines don't shut down in Nevada on Christmas; people work … most people don't get two weeks off on any time, let alone Christmas week."
Reid sharply criticized GOP senators who have complained that the unfinished business on the Senate schedule could keep the body in session up until next week's Christmas holiday.
"It's offensive to me and millions of working Americans for any senator to suggest that working through the Christmas holiday is sacrilegious or disrespectful," Reid said on the Senate floor.
The top Democrat's remarks come amid a power play in the Senate on Wednesday over the chamber's schedule, and just how much Democrats will be able to pass during the waning days of the lame-duck Congress.
Reid had targeted this Friday, Dec. 17, for adjournment, but has now said the Senate will likely have to work into the weekend and possibly next week in order to accomplish its unfinished business. The Senate passed a tax-cuts bill Wednesday afternoon, and sought to begin debate on the New START nuclear arms treaty. Other items on the agenda include a bill to fund the government that must be authorized by Saturday, and the DREAM Act, an immigration bill.
Republicans have chafed at the schedule throughout the lame duck, especially since they picked up seats in the November elections and will have more power when a new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 5.
"It is impossible to do all of the things that the majority leader laid out without doing — frankly, without disrespecting the institution and without disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians and the families of all of the Senate, not just the senators themselves but all of the staff," Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), the second-ranking Senate Republican, said Tuesday.
Adding to the calendar woes was Sen. Jim DeMint's (R-S.C.) move on Wednesday to force a reading of the treaty and the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill in order to stall action on the Senate floor.
Reid said he didn't need "sanctimonious reminders from Senators Kyl and DeMint on what Christmas means."
The Senate last year worked until Christmas Eve to pass a healthcare reform bill .
"We could work, as most Americans do, during the holidays," the Nevada Democrat said. "The mines don't shut down in Nevada on Christmas; people work … most people don't get two weeks off on any time, let alone Christmas week."
Reid Responds To Kyl: 'I Don't Need To Hear Sanctimonious Lectures' About Meaning Of X-Mas
After Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) accused Majority Leader Harry Reid of grinchery for suggesting that the Senate work the week after Christmas, Reid blamed Kyl's party for the delay that may push votes past the holiday.
"As a Christian, no one has to remind me of the importance of Christmas for all of the Christian faith, for all their families, all across America," he said. "I don't need to hear the sanctimonious lectures of Sen. Kyl and [Sen. Jim] DeMint to remind me of what Christmas means."
"Where were their concerns about Christmas [when they were posing] filibuster after filibuster of every piece of legislation during this entire Congress?" Reid asked on the Senate floor this afternoon.
Yesterday, Reid threatened to call the Senate back after Christmas to finish up the busy lame duck agenda before the Congress ends Jan. 4. Republicans -- who, it seems, would prefer Congress leave without passing the START treaty, Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal, spending bills and other legislation -- balked, with Kyl saying Reid was "disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians."
DeMint (R-SC), on the other hand, said todaythat it would be "sacrilegious" for the Senate to hold a vote on the START treaty in the days just before Christmas.
"You can't jam a major arms control treaty right before Christmas," he told Politico. "What's going on here is just wrong. This is the most sacred holiday for Christians."
For what it's worth, Easter is the most sacred holiday on the Christian calendar
No comments:
Post a Comment