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Republicans Rally to Oust Senate Majority Leader
Posted By Rodrigo Sermeño On August 1, 2014 @ 6:56 pm In Politics | 6 Comments
WASHINGTON – A half dozen House Republicans joined the chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) Tuesday at a rally to call on the American people to fire Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
“For too long now, Senator Reid has run the Senate with an iron fist, blocking legislation that would help working families,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus told a crowd of around 100 GOP supporters gathered outside the Senate steps of the U.S. Capitol. “The best way to create jobs in America is to make sure that Harry Reid loses his job.”
Following Priebus, a group of Republican lawmakers detailed some of the bills stuck in the Senate they say Reid is holding up in the upper chamber, including proposals to reform the tax code, scale back regulations on coal, and expedite the Keystone Pipeline.
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said the Nevada Democrat has 352 bills sitting on his desk that have passed in the House.
“Two-thirds of these bills have bipartisan support. Fifty-five of these bills were drafted by Democrats,” Blackburn said, pointing to a stack of bills sitting on a table next to her. “We’ve been doing our jobs.”
“It’s time for Harry Reid to get around to it. Take up these bills, bring these bills to a vote, and send these bills to the president’s desk for his signature. That is Harry Reid’s job,” she continued. “It’s time that we fire him and then we put Republicans in control of the Senate so that they work with the House to get the job done for the American people.”
Blackburn said there are 16 bills that are sitting on Reid’s desk related to energy, seven bills about lowering taxes, 31 bills that deal with government spending, and 15 bills to fix the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“It’s time for Harry Reid to man up, to pick up his pen, and to send these bills to the floor of the Senate,” she said.
Rep. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said President Obama and Reid have “declared war on the middle class of America” by blocking legislation that would authorize the immediate construction of the Keystone Pipeline.
“Let the Senate speak for the people instead of Harry Reid,” Daines said.
Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) said the best way to end the “war on coal” and increase access to affordable energy in the U.S. is to fire Reid.
Johnson criticized the Obama administration for spending around $9 million to rewrite a rule related to waste from surface coal mining operations.
“America isn’t working when the administration is shuttering coal-fired power plants and coal mines, and putting hard-working Americans out of work and causing the costs of energy to skyrocket.”
Johnson has introduced legislation that would prevent the rewrite of the Stream Buffer Zone Rule from going forward.
“This bill passed the House with bipartisan support,” he said. “The bill would stop the rewrite, it would put Americans back to work, and it would continue to provide affordable and reliable energy for millions of Americans.”
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) slammed the Senate majority leader for only offering excuses and no solutions.
Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) blasted Reid for being more interested in protecting members of his own party than “taking care of the American people.”
“There’s no reason why one man can protect an impotent president from doing what needs to be done,” Collins said.
He said the Nevada Democrat must be fired for being “bankrupt of ideas.”
“Republicans lead and we put bills on the desk. We’ve led and we’ve invited Democrats to come to the table,” Collins said. “Fire Reid. Put real leaders in place and that will make America grow again.”
Last week, the RNC announced the launch of a campaign targeting 12 states with robocalls to brand Reid as the face of Senate inaction. The calls will go out in Alaska, Colorado, Louisiana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Virginia, Iowa, Michigan, West Virginia, and South Dakota.
“The only way to stop President Obama’s agenda and to get job bills out of Congress is to fire Harry Reid. And the way to fire Harry Reid is to support your Republican Senate candidate. It doesn’t matter who the Democrat candidate is. A vote for a Democrat is a vote for Harry Reid,” Priebus said.
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