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Lott Ready To Push Rule Change On Holds

By Greta Wodele

Congress Daily

September 7, 2006

As House and Senate Republicans struggle this month to reach a compromise on a lobbying overhaul bill, the Senate is weighing whether to alter an old parliamentarian tool that allows senators to secretly hold hostage any piece of legislation.

"Secret holds are outrageous," said Senate Rules Chairman Lott, the former majority leader who is leading efforts in the Senate to enact broad lobbying and ethics changes this year. "It's one of the fundamental problems we have in the Senate today. It's abused and misused."

Lott said he would push for the Senate to require senators to disclose when they place holds on legislation if House and Senate negotiators are unable to reach an agreement on the broader measure -- an increasingly likely scenario as House leaders appear ready to bring up a section of the lobbying reform bills related to disclosing earmarks as early as next week.

An amendment to implement the rule change was added to the Senate lobbying bill earlier this year by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa -- a bipartisan team that has pushed the idea for nearly a decade.

While the amendment was approved 84-13, it is unlikely that Senate GOP leaders would back the Wyden-Grassley proposal. Both Majority Leader Frist and Majority Whip McConnell voted against the amendment.

"As majority leader, [Frist] has instituted reform to holds, including mandating the 72-hour rule and making objectors' names available to the committee chairman and bill sponsor" a Frist aide said Wednesday. Under the 72-hour rule, the majority leader informs the sponsor of a bill of the identity of the senator placing the hold after a 72-hour period elapses.

"And he doesn't rule out additional reforms that balance the rights of members with the obligations of [lawmakers] to their constituents," the aide said.

Supporters of the rule change argue secret holds give individual senators too much power and prompt lobbyists and special interest groups to ask senators to place holds on legislation they oppose. "It's corrosive," Lott argued Wednesday.

Opponents argue it is a useful negotiating tool for senators.

"You can kill something or hold it up for a length of time without tipping your hand," said one Senate GOP aide, who added that the public only hears about secret holds "when they are being misused, but they are also a useful tool for people who want to read the legislation without being pilloried on a hot topic."

A controversy over secret holds erupted last month when Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, admitted to placing a hold on legislation drafted by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., to create a government database to track federal projects and grants.

Critics accused Stevens -- a prolific author of earmarks -- of trying to block government transparency.

But Donald Ritchie, the Senate's assistant historian, said Wednesday secret holds allow Senate leaders of both parties to negotiate with their colleagues behind the scenes.

"Unanimity can be assured without forcing [senators] to identify themselves, because then it would be harder for them to back down and compromise," said Ritchie.

And he added that one senator's accusations of abuse are another senator's right to object. "Abuse is in the eye of the beholder," he said.