Tom Harkin: “I wish I knew why people are objecting. Why are they objecting to Bonnie Campbell? Why are they objecting to a debate on…”

“I wish I knew why people are objecting. Why are they objecting to Bonnie Campbell? Why are they objecting to a debate on the Senate floor? Why are they objecting to bringing her name out so that we can have a discussion and a vote on it? I want to make clear for the Record, it is not anyone other than the Republican majority holding up this nominee. Every day we are here--I know there will be an objection--I am going to ask unanimous consent because I want the Record to show clearly what is happening here and who is holding up this nominee who is fully qualified to be on the circuit court for the Eighth Circuit. Now I want to turn my comments to something the Senator from Minnesota was talking about; that is, the prescription drug program from the debate last night. Quite frankly, I was pretty surprised to hear Governor Bush talking about his prescription drug program. He calls it an ``immediate helping hand,'' and there is a TV ad being waged across the country to deceive and frighten seniors. He talks about ``Mediscare''; that was Bush's comment last night. He accused the Vice President of engaging in ``Mediscare,'' scaring the elderly. If the Bush proposal for prescription drugs were to ever go into effect, seniors ought to be scared because what it would mean would be the unraveling of Medicare, letting Medicare wither on the vine. Let's take a look at the Bush proposal. We know it is a two-stage proposal. First, it would be turned over to the States.…”