Monday, April 24, 2006

From The Congressional Record:

THE SENATE SCHEDULE -- (Senate - April 24, 2006)

Mr. REID. Mr. President, I spent the recess traveling in Nevada--Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Boulder City, Henderson, my hometown of Searchlight, and I also traveled to Pahrump, Reno, Fernley, Yerington, Fallon, and Hawthorne. These are all very different places, but not once in any of these cities where I met with people during the days, and in the evenings on occasion, not once did anyone talk to me about eliminating the estate tax, flag burning, or gay marriage.

Instead, throughout Nevada I was constantly asked about skyrocketing gas prices. My daughter-in-law, Amber, lives in Reno with my son with their four children. She has never talked to me about anything political in the many years we have known one another. But at dinner on Easter Sunday, she wanted everybody to hear, including me, how fed up she was with gas prices. She said that this is wrong and something has to be done about it.

She was speaking for millions of Americans. Even though she is the one who mouthed the words to me, this conversation could have taken place anywhere in America, at any dinner table, rich or poor. So not once did anyone in any of these Nevada cities talk to me about the estate tax, flag burning, and gay marriage. Instead, throughout Nevada I was constantly asked about these skyrocketing gas prices, the intractable war in Iraq, taxes, immigration, education, health care and, of course, homeland security.

I share this short report of my trip home because I am concerned about the Senate schedule in the coming months, and certainly in the next 5 weeks. All of us in the Senate, Democrats and Republicans, spent the last 2 weeks listening to what our constituents wanted to talk about, issues they care about. Now that we are back in Washington, when we look for these issues on the Senate calendar, they are nonexistent....