[jern]

Friday, July 4, 2003 12:00AM EDT

UNDER THE DOME

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Edwards in media tussle


By JOHN WAGNER, Correspondent


U.S. Sen. John Edwards aides' have been warring with The Washington Times this week over a pair of articles that alleged that the North Carolina Democrat "single-handedly" delayed action on a bill that would defer student-loan payments for soldiers engaged in military operations.
The bill, dubbed the "Heroes Act," sailed through the House in April and has not moved out of the Senate since.

The Times reported earlier this week that Edwards has used a parliamentary procedure known as a "hold" to keep the bill bottled up in the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, of which he is a member .

Aides to Edwards vigorously denied the report and claimed that the reporter, Charles Hurt , had botched his facts.

Before joining the Times, Hurt was the Washington correspondent for The Charlotte Observer. His tenure included several clashes with Edwards' staff over the accuracy of his stories.

"I can't reconcile Charlie Hurt's story with the truth, but that's not my problem," Edwards' presidential campaign spokeswoman, Jennifer Palmieri , said this week.

According to both Palmieri and Edwards' Senate office, Edwards supports the "Heroes" bill and has never placed a hold on the legislation.

Under Senate tradition, a single member can, at least temporarily, halt a bill's movement, ostensibly to further study its merits.

The closest Edwards has come to delaying the bill, his aides say, was a request made in April to offer an amendment to it.

According to Edwards' staff, Edwards wanted to make the loan relief automatic. The bill, as written, would leave the decision to the secretary of education. Edwards' amendment was not adopted.

A second Times story Thursday reported that Edwards' action was the equivalent of a hold -- a notion Edwards' aides also reject.

In any case, Edwards has done nothing since April that would delay the bill's passage, his Senate press secretary, Mike Briggs, said Thursday.

"He wants the bill to pass," Briggs said.

The Times story Thursday also reported on anger at Edwards generated by The Times' first piece. The first story also prompted conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh to lambaste Edwards on his radio program.

Home sale

Edwards has finally found a buyer for his former home off Embassy Row in Washington: the government of Hungary.

The Hungarian government reportedly paid $3 million for the red-brick mansion, which will be used as an ambassadorial residence.

Edwards brought the home in 1999 for $2.2 million.

The Edwards family has bought a new home in Georgetown, which is undergoing renovations. The Edwardses now live in a rental home in the northwest section of the city.

[jern]

Ping from previous article:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/938456/posts

[TomGuy]

Don't the Pubbies have a majority on that committee? If not, why not?

If the Pubbies have a majority, why can't they vote the bill out of committee--unless Edwards is filibustering it.

[I haven't seen any reports of Edwards taking time from his campaigning to do a Senate committee filibuster--like the Dems on the Judiciary Committee are doing.]

That begs the question: What is wrong with the Pubbies that they can't act like the majority party?

Damn! Vote the Dems back in control of the Senate--at least they know how to be the majority. The Pubbie as Senate majority have been nothing but a pathetic disaster.

[gunnedah]

Another "Smoking Mirrors" tatic. Both parties are great at this. When they dont want to do something for you they say they just want a better bill and then pretend to argue about which is best while socking it to the public.

[mykdsmom]

NC Ping!

[huck von finn]

This guy's not getting much attention lately. Isn't he supposed to be running for President?

[concentric circles]

E-mail Senator Edwards
Fax (202) 228-1374
Phone (202) 224-3154

[lorrainer]

Isn't he the litigious one? Is he looking for someone to sue here? Maybe the GIs could hit him with a nice class-action suit....