Copyright 2001 Star Tribune Star Tribune
(Minneapolis, MN)
May 25, 2001, Friday, Metro Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 25A
LENGTH:
740 words
HEADLINE: Senate shift makes future
look bright for Wellstone, Dayton
BYLINE: Rob
Hotakainen; Craig Gustafson; Staff Writers
DATELINE: Washington, D.C.
BODY: As the politics of Capitol Hill took a sudden
turn to the left Thursday, Minnesota's Democratic senators began surveying the
new landscape and found much to their liking.
For Sen. Paul Wellstone, the Democratic takeover of
the Senate means that he'll lead two key subcommittees, including one that has
jurisdiction over federal labor standards. He wants to work on job retraining
and on imposing stiffer fines on companies that he says illegally fire nearly
10,000 workers a year during union-organizing drives.
For Sen. Mark Dayton, the move to Democratic control
means a better chance at rewriting a farm bill this year. As a
member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Dayton said he has already spoken to
the new chairman, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, who wants to increase incentives for the
use of ethanol.
On a
picture-perfect day in Washington, Democrats were in a sunny mood as Vermont
Sen. James Jeffords defected from the GOP to become an independent.
"The resulting shift of power in
the Senate will be good for Minnesota," said Wellstone, calling Jeffords "one of
the absolutely kindest and best people" in the Senate. He said Bush had made a
mistake by imposing "some pretty rough treatment" on Jeffords, who was often at
odds with the White House.
"It's going to be a huge shift," Dayton
said, adding that the change will make it easier to get his prescription-drug
plan to the Senate floor. "It will be much more of a people's Senate focus than
heretofore."
Both
senators joked about party-hopping.
"I am certainly not going to switch,
although I'm sure I could have either a committee chairmanship or an aircraft
carrier if I was willing to do so," Dayton told reporters.
And Wellstone, a critic of Bush's plan
for a new missile-defense system, said: "I was hoping, frankly, to be able to
bargain for a chair of the Armed Services Committee."
Dayton said it was unlikely that any
other senators would switch.
But he added: "Truth is stranger than
fiction, and after the last 72 hours I think anybody would be out on a limb if
they were going to try to state with any prophetic certainty what future twists
and turns we'll take."
Dayton said the Senate turnaround could
be a rude awakening for some on Capitol Hill.
"Republicans in control of the House and
Senate were acting as though not only they had this huge mandate but also that
they had absolute control," he said. "Now we'll hold the president to better
account for the kind of bipartisanship that he professes to want, but hasn't
practiced to date."
Wellstone said that Jeffords' decision
hurts Bush, at least temporarily, but that the president could gain if he
decides to compromise with Democrats.
Dayton said the shift "means
now the Democrats will share the burden and the responsibility for addressing"
the problems, such as energy shortages, facing the country. He predicted that
the Democratic takeover will provide "a terrific boost" to biofuels and ethanol,
which have a strong proponent in Harkin.
Both of Minnesota's senators are set to
wield more clout in a newly organized Senate. With more than 10 years of
seniority, Wellstone will have the higher-profile role, leading two
subcommittees: the Employment, Training and Safety subcommittee and the Foreign
Relations subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs.
As a subcommittee chairman, Wellstone
will gain more staff and be able to determine what bills get hearings.
"I'm going to spend a lot of
time on job retraining and workforce development," he said. "And I'll be pushing
hard on labor law reform and right-to-organize legislation. That'll be harder to
pass, but I believe it's important for people to have the right to organize."
Wellstone said he
wants to make it easier for workers to organize into unions. Companies fire
workers during organizing drives with little fear of penalties, he
said. "The problem is that it's almost
profitable to do so because there's no stiff fines," he said.
In his Foreign Affairs
subcommittee, Wellstone said he will call for immediate hearings on the Middle
East.
"I would feel
like I was sleepwalking through history if we did not begin to hold hearings on
the Middle East," he said.
_ Rob Hotakainen is at
rhotakainen@mcclatchydc.com.
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