Roland Burris of Illinois met with Harry Reid and Dick Durbin of the all-white US Senate. They will allow him to sit in the Senate under certain conditions.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Senate Democrats Now See a Path to Seat for Burris
By CARL HULSE
New York Times
WASHINGTON — Reversing themselves, Senate Democratic leaders on Wednesday morning opened the door to allowing Roland W. Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the Senate.
After a private 45-minute meeting with the former Illinois state attorney general, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, and Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said that they were open to recognizing Mr. Burris’s appointment as long as he met several conditions.
They said that Mr. Burris, whose appointment was challenged because of the federal corruption inquiry surrounding Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, has to win the signature of the Illinois secretary of state and persuade a state legislative committee considering Mr. Blagojevich’s impeachment that there was nothing untoward about his selection.
“If that comes to a positive conclusion, as we believe it will, the next step is for the Rules Committee to review what has come together here on a bipartisan basis and recommend to the United States Senate, both Democrats and Republicans, the next step,” Mr. Durbin said.
A short time later Mr. Burris said in a news conference that he expected to be reresenting Illinois in the Senate "very shortly."
The Democratic chairwoman of the Rules Committee, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, said on Tuesday that Mr. Burris was entitled to be sworn in as a senator. The chairmanship could change hands and go to Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, however, depending on when Democrats and Republicans come to terms on the details of organizing the Senate for this session.
“He is not some kid who has no background,” Ms. Feinstein said of Mr. Burris on Tuesday.
Though Mr. Burris still has some obstacles to clear before he takes Mr. Obama’s seat, the fact that the leadership is now discussing a path for him to become senator was a major retreat from last week, when Mr. Reid and others were determined to prevent his joining the Senate.
At the same time, Mr. Obama, who initially said that Mr. Burris should not be seated because of the investigation of Mr. Blagojevich, said Wednesday that it was up to the Senate to decide what to do.
“I know Roland Burris,” the president-elect said. “Obviously, I’ve — he’s from my home state. I think he’s a fine public servant. If he gets seated, then I’m going to work with Roland Burris, just like I work with all the other senators, to make sure that the people of Illinois and the people of the country are served.”
On Tuesday, the day new members of Congress were sworn in, it was a rain-soaked Mr. Burris who commanded the most attention after he was barred from taking the oath of office. As Mr. Burris described it in his brief remarks, Senate officials had “advised that my credentials were not in order and I would not be accepted and I would not be seated and I would not be permitted on the floor.”
The stalemate over Mr. Burris marred what otherwise should have been a day of revelry for Democrats, who seated their expanded majorities in both the House and Senate in preparation for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama on Jan. 20.
Senior Democratic officials are now saying that there is a growing sense among Senate Democrats and advisers to Mr. Obama that Mr. Burris should ultimately be seated, as long as it can be done in a face-saving way for Democrats who had initially said they would block the appointment.
Though Mr. Burris had said he was not seeking aconfrontation on Tuesday, a spectacle unfolded nonetheless.
As Mr. Burris and his entourage arrived on Constitution Avenue alongside the Capitol, he was rushed by reporters and photographers, who slowed his movement enough that one aide remarked that it was the news media, not the Senate, that was blocking Mr. Burris’s entry into the Senate.
Mr. Burris made his way to the secretary of the Senate’s office for what Senate officials described as a “brief and amicable” meeting about why Mr. Burris’s certificate of appointment did not comply with Senate rules.
During that session, where Mr. Burris was backed by a team of lawyers and Senate officials by a team of parliamentarians, participants said that Mr. Burris asked to be sworn in. But he was told by the Senate officials that his credential was invalid since it lacked the state seal and the signature of the Illinois secretary of state, who has refused to sign. After the meeting, Mr. Burris trudged in the rain to a nearby Senate park for a news conference, since he lacked standing to officially address journalists in the Capitol. He and his lawyers said they would pursue legal options but still hoped to get Senate leaders to drop their opposition.
Senator Reid said Tuesday that the Senate was monitoring developments in Illinois that could have a bearing on the appointment — namely an effort by Mr. Burris to win a court order to force the secretary of state to sign the credentials and a coming legislative hearing on the possible impeachment of Mr. Blagojevich.
“If Mr. Burris takes possession of valid credentials,” Mr. Reid said, “the United States Senate will proceed in a manner that is respectful to Mr. Burris while ensuring that there is no cloud of doubt over the appointment to fill this seat.”
In an affidavit prepared for the hearing and made public, Mr. Burris swore that he was first contacted by the governor’s office about the appointment on Dec. 26, well after the investigation into the governor became public. He said he was personally offered the appointment by Mr. Blagojevich two days later. Mr. Burris said that no other topics were discussed other than Mr. Burris’s own public service record.
Representative Danny Davis, an Illinois Democrat who turned down a chance at the appointment, warned that the refusal by Senate Democratic leaders to seat Mr. Burris could split the Democratic Party and alienate blacks.
He said his own constituents overwhelmingly favored allowing Mr. Burris into the Senate. But he also said that supporters of Mr. Burris did not have to make a case based on racial justice, but simply on basic law. Mr. Blagojevich has not been formally charged or indicted, let alone convicted of any crime, Mr. Davis noted, meaning that the governor is still empowered to appoint a replacement to Mr. Obama’s seat.
“In America we take the position, supposedly, that you are innocent until proven guilty,” Mr. Davis said. “I think black people in American simply wanted to be regarded as having equal opportunity, and equal opportunity under the law.”
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