George Allen Steals Durbin Amendment – Calls It His Own (Webb Campaign Accuses Allen of Plagerism)

Webb ^ | 9/8/06

[areafiftyone]

September 5, 2006
George Allen Steals Durbin Amendment – Calls It His Own
(Perhaps He Thought We Wouldn’t Notice the One Word Difference – Nice Work Skippy)

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator George Allen today stole a Department of Defense appropriations amendment written, printed and prepared by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill), and then announced the amendment as his own, moments before Durbin was prepared to introduce the amendment on the Senate floor.

The following is a chronology of what happened earlier this afternoon:

• At 2:30 PM this afternoon the U.S. Senate began debate of the Department of Defense appropriations for FY 2007.
• Already on the docket was Senator Dick Durbin, who was scheduled to introduce an amendment to the bill providing $19 million in additional funding for the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center program, which provides treatment care and research for veterans suffering from traumatic brain injuries. That meant that Durbin’s amendment had already been written, printed and prepared for introduction by Durbin.
• Yet, before Durbin could take the floor to introduce his amendment, George Allen entered the Senate Chamber and asked for permission to speak before Durbin. When permission was granted ahead of Durbin, lo and behold, Allen introduced an amendment to the DOD appropriations bill that, how could this be, was identical in language to Durbin’s bill with the exception of one word – the word “will” was changed in Allen’s amendment and replaced with the word “shall.” Other than that, the amendments were identical – Durbin’s amendment had been printed and set to be formally introduced, Allen’s bill had not been written or been placed on the docket to be introduced.

When asked by Senators Stevens and Durbin if his amendment was the same as Senator Durbin’s, George Allen agreed the bills were identical.

So, what are the odds that George Allen had the exact same idea as Durbin, the exact same dollar figure as Durbin, the exact same language as Durbin (save one word)? And why did Allen seek special permission to speak before Durbin unless Allen was seeking to take credit for an amendment to which Durbin had already prepared and written?

“Geez, Senator, has it really come to this? Are you so bankrupt of ideas that you have to steal another Senator’s amendments and call them your own? It is clear you stole Dick Durbin’s language. There are no odds that you could have written an exactly identical amendment to Durbin’s, save one word – I guess you thought this would allow you to call the amendment your own – that it would have the exact dollar figure and that you would have to run down to the Senate floor and cut in front of Durbin (talk about cut and run, Senator) and introduce a virtually identical amendment. Did you think no one would notice?” Jim Webb spokesman Steve Jarding said.

“And, what happened to the Senate working at the pace of a ‘wounded sea slug? Apparently, when you are seeking to score political points, even if it means stealing another Senator’s bill, that ole sea slug heals up right quick. George Allen’s using government for his own personal and political gain is wearing very thin. This whole episode is shameful and not worthy of a sitting U.S. Senator,” Jarding said.

[msnimje]

[areafiftyone]

From the Durbin Press Release:

Durbin was joined by U.S. Senator George Allen (R-VA) and others in offering the amendment.

[KevinDavis]

and this dweeb wants to be a senator...

[msnimje]

These things change all the time, judgment should not be passed on this until it is finalized (printed?).

[CFC__VRWC]

Might not be a bad idea to get a screen grab of that - Durbin's very much slimy enough to pull it and then claim Allen "plagerized" him if he thought it would help out Webb.

[Bahbah]

tell us how much the Webb campaign is paying you to troll Free Republic.

Heheheh, good for you. Short shelf life there, I think.

[AHerald]

Nice Work Skippy

Goodness, are there any serious adults in the Dem party anymore? The disrespectful and infantile tone of this derisive news release reveals a heckuva lot more about Webb than it does Allen.

[msnimje]

And then please tell us how much the Webb campaign is paying you to troll Free Republic.

I thought I smelled a troll but as I have a head cold I was not sure.

[elc]

Welcome to FR. Do you work on Webb's campaign?

[CFC__VRWC]

The disrespectful and infantile tone of this derisive news release reveals a heckuva lot more about Webb than it does Allen.

At least he's stopped calling Allen "Felix" in every sentence.

[tiredoflaundry]

Good catch!

[traderrob6]

Enjoy your stay as it will be exceedingly short.

[Corin Stormhands]

The Virginia RAT blogs are apoplectic over this. It's hysterical.

I just keep hitting them back with:

1) They're campaigning like middle schoolers
2) They don't understand how the Senate works, and
3) Did the mean nasty Senator take your milk money too?

[defconw]

(Scratching head). Karl?

[areafiftyone]

This makes Webb look like a fool. This is better for Allen.

[SDGOP]

If you guys look at durbin's speech, he refers to it as the ALLEN amendment. Allen also submitted the bill before durbin.

MR. DURBIN: I'M GOING TO ASK FOR UNANIMOUS CONSENT, BUT I'M ALSO GOING TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT IF THERE'S ANY MODIFICATION AT A LATER POINT THAT SENATOR ALLEN SUGGESTS, I'D BE GLAD TO WORK WITH HIM ON THIS. I THINK THIS IS OUR UNDERSTANDING BASED ON THE COLLOQUY WE HAD ON THE FLOOR. AND THAT IS THAT THE AMENDMENT 4883, SENATOR ALLEN'S AMENDMENT, BE SHOWN AS THE ALLEN-DURBIN AMENDMENT, AND THAT MY COSPONSORS ON MY AMENDMENT BE ADDED AS COSPONSORS ON THIS AMENDMENT. AT THIS POINT MY AMENDMENT, 4884, SENATOR ALLEN'S AMENDMENT 4883 ARE IDENTICAL.

Even durbin acknowledges it, and allen's amendment is 4883(right before durbin's 4884). This essentially means they worked on it together and submitted it at the same time.

[msnimje]

Great find. I hope somebody calls Webb on his obliviousness and partisanship!!!

[Sacajaweau]

You can't plagarize a bill. They're all nit-picked well before it gets presented.

No ones plagarizing anything.

In fact, what they're saying may just be the opposite.

Look at the early Congressional records. Happened every day.

[msnimje]

Is there something you can do to make this pageview of Webb's website stay in a Google (or other search engine) cache long after it gets pulled?

This will be great ammo for Allen down the road.

[Sacajaweau]

Great Catch....Couldn't be clearer!!