Robert P. Casey Jr.

January 1, 2008

Source: Lancaster Intelligencer Journal

By David Pidgeon

WASHINGTON - Sen. Bob Casey Jr. has to leave. Immediately.

On this late summer morning, the Pennsylvania Democrat is sitting on a small chair in the Smithsonian's Ripley Center, surrounded by more than a dozen children in paper hats listening as he reads aloud to them.

"He loves this," Casey spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff says about the national literacy program he's giving time to this morning. "He loves reading to kids."

But the war in Iraq waits for no senator, no children's literacy movement — nothing. Casey staffers have been alerted: There's a vote related to the war pending back at the Capitol.

Casey quickly finishes his reading and departs. He and two members of his staff rush into a black sedan, which takes off, darting through traffic, past the regal Smithsonian museums and around the brilliant white Capitol dome. Republican Sen. John Conryn of Texas has submitted legislation condemning MoveOn.org for running a New York Times advertisement criticizing U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, the commanding general of the multinational force in Iraq.

"Talk about the time of the U.S. Senate, to have to vote on this, this is ridiculous," Casey says as the car lurches toward the back entrance of the Capitol. "Whenever (Conryn) is on the floor doing something, you can bet it's pretty well coordinated (with President Bush)."

Casey, lanky in a dark suit, walks briskly past heavily armed security guards leading bomb-sniffing dogs, eager members of the media hurling questions at anyone they regard as important — senators like Hillary Clinton, in the midst of a presidential campaign, and Larry Craig, in the midst of a sex scandal.

"In the middle of a war, it doesn't make any sense," Casey says about Conryn's legislation before pushing open the wood-and-glass door to the hallowed Senate chamber.

It is not yet noon, but Casey already is behind his work schedule for the day — and would end up so again and again because of Iraq and other issues.
Such is the hurried daily existence of a U.S. senator — even a newbie without a caucus leadership position like Casey, who only a year ago ousted eight-year incumbent U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum in a bitter campaign.

The events in this article took place Sept. 20, at what could be considered the high tide of Democratic frustration at the inability to change the direction of the four-year Iraq war despite controlling both chambers of Congress since January.

Casey and his staffers gave me nearly unlimited access that day. I was always nearby as the senator went through his daily paces, and we discussed issues and his life as one of the highest-ranking elected officials from Pennsylvania.

The war cast its shadow over just about everything that day in the Capitol, beginning with an 8:30 a.m. meet-and-greet with Casey and some of his constituents. There, a woman with the anti-war CodePink organization sought Casey's ear about Iraq legislation.

A lot of what Casey says he wants to accomplish — from effecting a strong diplomatic solution to the Iraqi war to expanding children's health care — faces daunting hurdles. And one of the biggest rests just down from the Capitol at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

At 10:45 a.m., when Casey was supposed to be at the Smithsonian, President Bush's image appeared from the White House on a television mounted above Casey's desk in his office, so everything had to wait.

Casey sat in his chair, hand to his emotionless face, as staffers loomed in the doorway, almost eager to pull him away to the Smithsonian children's literacy event. Bush, however, could not be put off.

"Members of Congress are putting health care for children at risk to score political points," Bush said. At this, one of Casey's staffers muttered a frustrated, "God," while shaking her head.

Bush was talking about a bipartisan bill to drastically expand federally sponsored children's health care, known as the SCHIP program. The president had threatened to veto it.

"The president is basically playing politics," Casey said after taking his hand away from his face. "Sixty-eight senators who can't agree on anything came together for this."

Even though there was no time to answer the president officially, Casey's frustration followed him into a waiting black car that took him to the Smithsonian.

"There's been no effort on his part to bridge the gap," Casey said, explaining how Congress and Bush are about $30 million apart on the health care issue. "What he's doing is the height of irresponsibility. It's unbelievable."

There's little time to think. After reading to the children and the hurried Senate vote, there's a photo-op with students on the steps of the Capitol and lunch with the Democratic policy team. Business leaders such as Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and the Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce & Industry meet separately with him behind closed doors. There's an interview with CNN and another with KQV radio out of Pittsburgh.

"Frustration comes because you're busy all the time," Casey tells me at one point. "Meetings, votes, meetings, votes, hearing, votes and over and over again."

With the interviews finished, he's off again, hustling through the halls of the Russell Senate Building, past the offices of John Kerry, Ted Kennedy and John McCain. Below ground now, Casey boards the congressional light-rail transit system that whisks him toward the Capitol.

In the Senate Radio/TV Gallery, Casey is seated next to Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, taking questions from members of the media about a bill the two have introduced related to a rash of product recalls by international importers. The legislation would mandate insurance for importers to cover the costs of any massive recall.

"We have to make sure that people who bring products into this country have the resources to recall them when problems arise," Casey tells the reporters. "There are so many ways a company can lay the burden on someone else, and 'someone else' are the taxpayers of the United States."

Just when the pace seems to slow and the sun begins to ease toward the western D.C. neighborhoods, the Iraq issue once again erupts inside the Senate chambers.

Casey walks onto the Senate floor at 3 p.m. and votes against legislation to redeploy troops in three months and cut off funding in June 2008 — even though the bill was authored by Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Casey has other ideas about how to resolve the Iraq situation. As the Senate debates begin to wane for the day, Casey stands and delivers an address about introducing legislation he co-authored with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican.

The bill calls for a comprehensive diplomatic strategy to bring an end to the Iraq mission, which would include inviting Iraq's Middle East neighbors to a regional conference.

The idea fits Casey and his persona better. He's not a firebrand or one who seems to draw controversy. He's formal but not stuffy, measured, with a quiet passion for his platform. Tie always sporting a perfect knot, hair precisely cropped, he's the purpose-driven son of the late Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey.

"We all recognize in hindsight how diplomacy was critically missing from the strategic planning of the United States in the run-up to this war," Casey calmly says to the chamber. "We all know that now. … Yet we have paid little heed to diplomacy in the frustrating years since our initial invasion."

The day finally ends about dinner time. There's the certainty of more Iraq debates tomorrow, plus the ongoing divide on children's health care.

Casey, though, plans to get up and keep on.

"You are sometimes so engrossed and preoccupied in what you are doing, you don't think about the meaning of the privilege you have," he'd told me earlier in the day. "But I'm reminded all the time."