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Grassley Protests Senate Leader Reid for Refusing Vote on Air Guard and Reserve Amendment

Senator Charles Grassley
Senator Charles Grassley

From Senator Charles Grassley –

WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley said the refusal of the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to allow votes on amendments such as a bipartisan proposal to freeze funding for the transfer or retirement of Air National Guard and Reserve aircraft demonstrates what he’s been saying about how the way the Majority Leader is running the Senate prevents serious issues from being addressed and, in this case, to the detriment of Iowa.

The amendment had been introduced by Senator Max Baucus of Montana to the Continuing Appropriations Act to fund government operations until the end of the fiscal year.

“The Senate Majority leader used a tactic to prevent senators offering amendments without his permission,” Grassley said.  “When some Senators sought to offer amendments that other senators didn’t want to have to vote on, he made it clear that unless those senators consented to waive their right to offer those amendments, he would move to shut down all further debate and amendments pre-maturely, which is exactly what he did.  Unfortunately, all but one member of his party along with a few Republicans voted for the Majority Leader’s motion.  As a result, the Senate was prevented from considering the Air Guard and Reserve amendment offered by Senator Baucus.  It also prevented the consideration of a bipartisan amendment sponsored by Senator Moran to keep contract Air Traffic Control Towers, like the one in Dubuque, operating.”

Grassley went on to say that the tactics of the Senate’s Democratic leadership have reached unprecedented lengths to block the Senate from considering amendments, against more than 200 years of Senate tradition as a deliberative body.

“There is no Senate rule that says senators have a right not to have to take votes on difficult issues they would rather avoid,” Grassley said.  “On the contrary, that’s what the American people expect us to do.  While the Democratic Leader complains that Republicans don’t vote for his motions to cut off debate, calling that a filibuster and a delay tactic, the truth is that this bill probably could have been finished much sooner if the Senate had been allowed to consider amendments on an ongoing basis and vote them up or down right from the start.  It seemed for a while that the Majority Leadership was getting better about allowing an open process in the new 113th Congress, but it appears that this bad habit is proving hard to break.”

The Baucus amendment would have blocked the movement of Air National Guard Aircraft until after the completion of studies by the Government Accountability Office examining the cost of infrastructure in connection with moving Air National Guard and Reserve aircraft, the costs of recruiting and training in connection with moving these assets, the jobs lost and gained in connection with moving these assets and the Inspector General of the Department of Defense examining the cost of infrastructure in connection with moving Air National Guard and Reserve aircraft, the costs of recruiting and training in connection with moving these assets, and the environmental impact associated with moving these assets.

“Here, the Air Force hasn’t been willing to quantify the reason for its decision or dispute the fact that in a lot of areas, the Air National Guard is at least as capable as full-time personnel, and in some cases more capable, since Guard members serve over a long period of time and gain valuable experience, on top of the fact that over the long run the Guard can be much more cost effective,” Grassley said.  “So, cutting the Guard doesn’t necessarily make sense for achieving maximum savings and it may not make sense for national security, either.”

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