Senate Democrats Force Climate Bill Through Committee Despite Republican Boycott

Friday, 06 November 2009 10:10

In the News

Politics Daily

Democratic senators on the Environment and Public Works Committee dismissed a Republican boycott of the panel's markup session and passed a climate change bill 11-1, with only Sen. Max Baucus of Montana opposing. When Republicans refused to attend markup sessions, committee chairwoman Sen. Barbara Boxer of California used an obscure procedure that allows a bill to be voted out of committee by a simple majority without considering amendments. The bill would mandate a 20 percent reduction in the United States' carbon emissions by the end of the next decade.

"This was an extraordinary experience, and in many ways a bonding experience," Boxer said of the unusual procedure. Fellow Democrat Thomas Carper of Delaware, who has worked closely with coal mining states to develop language that would attract votes, expressed uneasiness with the move. "I don't like this process and I don't think any of us do," he said. Baucus said he could not support the legislation without several changes.

Full story here.