Atlanta, GA -- A day after Senator Paul Coverdell’s campaign consultant boasted that Coverdell would not miss a single vote in the Senate to campaign or debate, Coverdell missed five more votes in the Senate while raising money at Georgia airports with Texas Governor George W. Bush. On Wednesday, the Senate voted on five measures, all of which Coverdell missed. They include: a nuclear waste storage bill (H.R. 629); funding for International Monetary Fund loans (S.AMDT to S. 2334); funding for efforts to halt North Korea’s nuclear weapons program (S.AMDT 3500 to S. 2334); declassifying information about U.S. Government activities in Guatamala and Honduras; and the $14.3 billion Foreign Appropriations Bill (S. 2334), which included funding for anti-terrorism programs and loans to Russia. The foreign appropriations measure also included funding for the Peace Corps, the agency Coverdell ran during the Bush administration. Coverdell joined Senator Inouye of Hawaii as the only Senators up for reelection that missed the votes. The other 26 Senators up for reelection were present for the votes. On Tuesday, Coverdell missed a vote on the $8.5 billion Military Construction Appropriations bill (H.R. 4059) in order to attend an insurance PAC fundraiser in Sandy Springs. Michael Coles, Coverdell’s opponent in the November general election, noted, “It has become apparent that “Coverdell works” for his own interests and not the interests of Georgia and this nation. His claims of being the hardest working Senator and that he works for Georgia have been refuted in the past two days.” Questions Still Remain:
- Why did Coverdell attend a health insurance PAC fundraiser instead of voting on multi-billion dollar national security legislation in the Senate? Which does he think is more important?
- And why does Coverdell choose to attend fundraisers at airports while missing a day of votes on other pressing national security issues?
# # # |
