NEWS FEATURE: Threatened Filibuster Looms Over Pain Relief Bill

c. 2000 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ One day soon, some of the U.S. Senate’s most powerful members will hold a debate that determines the future of Oregon’s law allowing physician-assisted suicide. The exchanges could be sharp and personal. Senators’ values could be called into question. Relationships could be strained. But this debate won’t take […]

c. 2000 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ One day soon, some of the U.S. Senate’s most powerful members will hold a debate that determines the future of Oregon’s law allowing physician-assisted suicide.

The exchanges could be sharp and personal. Senators’ values could be called into question. Relationships could be strained.


But this debate won’t take place amid the dark-varnished desks and blue carpet of the spacious Senate chamber.

Rather, it likely will be limited to a handful of the chamber’s top Republicans meeting in the seclusion of a Capitol anteroom. And despite the fact that the Oregon law is driving their disagreement, discussion of the law’s merits is the last thing on the senators’ minds.

The Republicans’ dilemma is this: Should they please their conservative base by passing legislation that blocks the Oregon law? Or spend precious election-year floor time on other issues that resonate with a broader spectrum of voters?

“The fact is, assisted suicide is the subject of intense, but not widespread interest,” said Ross Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University. “My guess is there would be some measure of impatience with a bill that seemed to be so narrowly focused.”

On one side of the intra-party debate is Assistant Majority Leader Don Nickles, R-Okla., the No. 2 Republican. Nickles is the chief proponent of the Pain Relief Promotion Act, which would prohibit doctors from prescribing lethal doses of federally controlled drugs. The Judiciary Committee approved the bill Thursday, delighting right-to-life groups.

On the other side is Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss. Lott is a co-sponsor of the pain relief bill, but other measures would take higher priority on a crowded calendar, a spokesman said. Some of Lott’s closest advisers, including Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., hold a similar view.

Aides to Lott and Nickles downplay the chance of a rift within top Republican ranks. But building tension between them is crucial to a last-ditch defense of the Oregon law being mounted by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and a handful of Democratic allies.


Lott and Nickles are known to have feuded over party priorities in the past, and their relationship is testy at best. Now, Wyden hopes to raise the stakes in the Republican leaders’ private debate over assisted suicide.

Wyden’s tool of choice is the Senate rulebook.

For months, Wyden has threatened to filibuster the pain relief bill, invoking his right to discuss Nickles’ bill on the Senate floor indefinitely. To stop him, Nickles would have to get 60 senators _ all 55 Republicans plus at least five Democrats _ to vote in favor of a cloture petition.

Even if Wyden loses the cloture vote, Senate rules guarantee him a total of 60 hours of floor time _ 30 hours on the “motion to proceed” and 30 hours on the bill itself. Given the Senate’s usual pace, Wyden and his allies could hold the floor for about two weeks.

In a recent interview, Wyden said he hoped he wouldn’t have to carry out his filibuster threat. But the threat remains in force because it adds pressure to Nickles’ negotiations with Lott, Wyden’s top aide said.

“The ball is in Senator Nickles’ court,” said Josh Kardon, Wyden’s chief of staff. “He will have to demonstrate to Senator Lott that he has the votes to keep this issue from burning a limited amount of floor time.”

“Do I think he’ll be able to do it?” Kardon added. “I think it remains to be seen.”


Baker, the Rutgers professor, agreed that Wyden’s threat could work. If an impasse develops among leadership, he said, some of the Senate’s Republican rank-and-file might urge Nickles to withdraw the pain relief bill.

“A certain amount of social pressure builds up among other senators who want to have legislation debated and acted on,” Baker said. “So it’s not just Lott and Nickles. It becomes Lott and other senators who have business they want the Senate to deal with.”

For his part, Nickles has said that he has more than the 60 votes needed to cut off a filibuster that would be led by Wyden and likely joined by Sens. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

A key to Nickles’ strategy is putting pressure on moderate Democrats. Nickles has convinced six of them to sign on as co-sponsors of the pain relief bill. And he must rely on them to break rank on cloture votes, which typically fall along party lines.

Ultimately, those six Democrats are likely to vote against Wyden. But they also face a dilemma: How long should they wait before shutting down a Democratic colleague? Any hesitation on their part could lengthen Wyden’s potential floor time beyond the 60 hours guaranteed by Senate rules.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., is the leading Democratic proponent of the pain relief bill. Asked last week how he would vote on cloture, Lieberman said he wanted to give Wyden time to debate the pain relief bill, but he couldn’t say exactly how long that would be.


“It ought to, in a reasonable amount of time, come to a vote on the merits,” Lieberman said. “And therefore, I’m not going to continue to support a filibuster that I think is aimed at stopping it from coming up.”

DEA END BARNETT

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