At least, legislative-wise. I figure there's been a gazillion posts of the sort "WE HAVE BEEN BETRAYED!" "NO MORE MONEY TO TRAITOR DEMS" and a significant number of the sort "It's okay" "Let's be conciliatory" "Let's not get angry."
But there's been little on his actual tenure as Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs.
The following is a conglomeration of two posts from the DemocraticLuntz archives:
The first is about the 9/11 Commission Recommendations Bill
The second was primarily an immature attack on Senator Edwards referencing the DC Voting Rights Act (not my best work, though the Edwards/Obama battles here WERE awesome)
Update: In the process of adding the hearings he convened
Anyway, the posts reposted below the fold:
9/11 Commission Recommendation Bill Post
While everyone was complaining for the last few weeks about how the Senate was doing nothing, the Senate Democratic Caucus was actually working hard to pass the Improving America's Security Act.
This bill implements the recommendations of the 9/11 commission that the Republican-controlled Congress chose to ignore.
These provisions include:
- Enhanced information sharing between different branches of government and between federal, state, county and local governments.
- Interoperable Communications-provides funding to ensure that different branches of first responders (i.e. firefighters and police) can communicate with each other. Their inability to do cost lives on 9/11.
- Cracks down on loopholes in visa waiver law that enable terrorist travel.
- Strengthens biosurveillance, private sector preparedness
- Enhanced disclosure
Of course, these provisions are all mostly common-sense. However, the most progressive provision in the bill is owed to Senator Joementum Lieberjerk(CfL-CT)
This provision allows TSA workers to unionize and engage in collective bargaining. Unionization rights of any kind are extremely important to the Democratic party, but allowing Homeland Security employees to unionize is, if anything, even more important.
Department of Homeland Security workers to unionize was a big issue in the run-up to the 2002 elections. In fact, it was this very issue that led to what some consider the most disgusting attack ad ever run in a Senate race (although the racist ads run against Harvey Gantt and Harold Ford are certainly up there). I am referring to the ad the draft-dodging (he didn't serve at all even though he was out of college by 1966 and out of law school by 1968) Saxby Chambliss ran against triple-amputee Vietnam veteran Max Cleland showing Cleland's face with the face of bin Laden.
Anyway, Senator Lieberman introduced this unionization provision in the Homeland Security & Goverment Affairs Committee, prevailing 9-8 (he was joined in support for the provision by every committee Democrat).
Once on the Senate floor, the Republicans tried twice to remove or dilute this provision, with Senator DeMint and Susan Collins offering amendments. The entire Democratic caucus , joined by Senator Specter, voted against these amendments, refusing to back down or compromise.
And today, the bill passed 60-38. Joining the 50 Democrats were Senator Specter (who supported the provisions in the first place), the two Senators from Maine (12% union members, 13.5% union repped), Gordon Smith (up for re-election, 13.8% union members, 14.7% union repped), the two Senators from Alaska (22.2% union members, 23.8% union repped), Kit Bond (11% union members, 12% union repped), George Voinovich (14.2% union members, 15.5% union repped), Norm Coleman (up for re-election, 16% union members, 16.8% union repped) and Elizabeth Dole (she must be scared for election purposes to vote against the homeland security bill, since North Carolina has less of its population unionized than any other state).
Link to Bureau of Labor Statistics on union membership by state
This is especially great news because it looks like there's a real possibility that we could get cloture on the Employee Free Choice Act (hopefully Senator Johnson will be back then).
The bill itself became law. I was, however, rather overoptimistic about the Employee Free Choice Act; we currently stand at 59 votes for cloture in the 111th Congress, putting everything on the Minnesota recount and Georgia runoff
Adam B had a post urging Lieberman to go and help Jim Martin; I'd forgotten about Chambliss' despicable actions attacked Cleland for this bill. This would be something relevant to Lieberman, who worked with Cleland on the bill.
DC Voting Rights Act Post
Earlier this afternoon, at the Capitol, the Republicans in the United States Senate blocked cloture on the D.C. Voting Rights Act
I hope everyone will read Joe Lieberman's bill. It's not statehood like we're hoping for, but it's a start.
DC will likely finally get a fully voting Representative in Congress (if not the full representation in both the House and the Senate it deserves) this cycle.
None of the 8 Republicans who voted for cloture on the bill in 2007 were defeated as of right now (though hopefully the recount in Minnesota will change that); it had 57 YEA votes, with Max Baucus voting NAY and Robert Byrd missing the vote.
Update with Oversight Hearings
On Blackwater and other private security contractors-An Uneasy Relationship: U.S. Reliance on Private Security Firms in Overseas Operations
Federal Policy toward gay federal employees-Domestic Partner Benefits for Federal Employees: Fair Policy and Good Business
On Fed Gov't Protecting personal information-Protecting Personal Information: Is the Federal Government Doing Enough?
On FEMA-The New FEMA: Is the Agency Better Prepared for a Catastrophe Now Than It Was in 2005?
On Inspectors General (the people who do the actual uncovering of things): Strengthening the Unique Role of the Nation’s Inspectors General
(a quote from Lieberman from that hearing: "
340 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
Tel: (202) 224-2627 Web: http://hsgac.senate.gov
Two of our witnesses today – Department of Justice Inspector General Glenn Fine and Department of
Interior Inspector General Earl Devaney – are in my view models of what an IG should be.
Among the many efforts of his office, Mr. Fine recently detailed the sloppy and often inappropriate use of
National Security Letters to conduct wiretaps within the United States. Mr. Devaney has uncovered costly
blunders regarding oil and gas leases, while challenging lax ethical conduct by department officials
"
Further note that a lot of the oversight is done by subcommittee chairs:
i.e. Dan Akaka "The Perils of Politics in Government: A Review of the Scope and Enforcement of the Hatch Act"
Mary Landrieu on FEMA and Katrina recovery