Oct. 18, 2007 – 9:19 p.m.
Oklahoma Republican
The Senate voted, 42-52, against tabling, or killing, a Coburn amendment to the fiscal 2008 spending bill for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (
“Maybe this is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius for taxpayers,” Coburn said in a statement afterward.
His spokesman, John Hart, said the earmark was the third that Coburn has succeeded in striking since joining the Senate in 2005. The senator won the elimination of $15 million in a bill last year for promoting seafood consumption; the Senate also adopted a Coburn amendment to an emergency supplemental bill (
The Woodstock provision had been included in the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill at the behest of Democratic Sens.
“The people of Sullivan County, as well as the people of the rest of New York, elected myself and Sen. Clinton to try and help them with their specific needs as well as make the country a better place,” Schumer said. “We don’t tell them what’s good for them . . . we defer to their decision.”
USA Today reported this week that Allen Gerry, the billionaire owner of the Woodstock site, where the museum will be constructed, made large contributions to Schumer’s and Clinton’s campaigns after the Senate Appropriations Committee included the earmark this year.
Another earmark fared better, with a 34-61 vote to defeat an amendment by
“Washington has reached the point of absurdity when a member of Congress can create a monument to himself at taxpayer expense,” DeMint said in a statement. “I’m embarrassed that my Senate colleagues didn’t have the courage today to stand up for taxpayers.”
A spokesman for Rangel did not respond to a request for comment.
Thursday marked the second day of debate on the spending bill; work will continue next week, said Majority Leader
The bill would provide $606 billion for the three departments it covers, plus some independent agencies such as the Social Security Administration. Of the total, $149.9 billion is discretionary spending. The rest is mostly for large entitlements: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and unemployment insurance.
The Senate bill’s discretionary spending represents a $5.4 billion increase over what was enacted in fiscal 2007 and is $9.6 billion more than President Bush requested. It contains $1.9 billion less than the House-passed version.
In other business Thursday, the Senate:
• Rejected, 46-47, an amendment by
Republicans say the cut is a favor for the union bosses that helped elect Democrats last year and that since the end of the Clinton administration, the office’s performance has improved significantly. Sessions’ proposal would have increased the agency’s budget to $50.7 million, a 6.3 percent boost over fiscal 2007.
• Voted, 41-52, to defeat a proposal by
Before defeating Vitter’s measure, the Senate adopted, 68-25, an amendment by Reid that clarifies that the bill would not change federal law regarding abortion funding. A longstanding provision of the bill, named for its author, former Rep. Henry J. Hyde, R-Ill. (1975-2007), prohibits Medicaid from paying for abortions in most cases.
Kathleen Hunter, Bart Jansen and Greg Vadala contributed to this story.


