Senate Passes Legislation on Schiavo Case

March 20, 2005

Never thought I'd say this---Thank you Republicans---shame on you Democrats!!!!

Time later to wrangle about politics....

If ever a case needed to be investigated this is it

Senate Passes Legislation on Schiavo Case

5 minutes ago

Politics - U. S. Congress

By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - The Senate passed a bill that could prolong Terri Schiavo's life while a federal court considers her case while House Republicans, stymied by Democrats, scrambled to bring enough lawmakers back to the Capitol for an emergency vote early Monday.

AP Photo

GOP leaders planned a House vote just past midnight, hours after the Senate approved the bill by voice vote. President Bush (news - web sites) rushed back from Texas for a chance to sign the measure.

The plan had been for the House to act first and then the Senate to pass the House version. But with Democrats forcing a delay in the House, the Senate went ahead and passed its own, identical, version by unrecorded voice vote.

That means the House will be acting on the Senate-passed bill, still enabling the legislation to be hurried to Bush for signature into law.

The White House said the president would act as soon as the measure reaches him.

"We ought to err on the side of life in a case like this," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. Asked about a bill that would cover a single person, he said, "I think most people recognize that this case involves some extraordinary circumstances."

Lawmakers who left Washington on Friday for the two-week Easter recess had to make abrupt changes in plans, backtracking for a dramatic and politically contentious vote.

Democrats expressed sympathy for the severely brain-damaged Florida woman and for the plight of her family. But they also accused Republicans of ramming through constitutionally questionable legislation to satisfy the agenda of their conservative allies.

In a special session Sunday afternoon, Democrats refused to allow the bill to be passed without a roll call vote.

Under House rules, such a vote could not occur until Monday, thus the plans for a vote at 12:01 a.m. Monday at which at least 218 of the 435-member House must appear. Also, because it was an expedited vote, the measure needed votes from two-thirds of those present for passage.

The House has 232 Republicans, 202 Democrats and one independent.

The legislation would give Schiavo's parents the right to file suit in federal court over the withdrawal of food and medical treatment needed to sustain the life of their daughter.

It says the court, after determining the merits of the suit, "shall issue such declaratory and injunctive relief as may be necessary to protect the rights" of the woman. Injunctive relief in this case could mean the reinserting of feeding tubes.

"It gives Terri Schiavo another chance," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said after the late-afternoon voice vote in a near-empty Senate chamber. "It guarantees a process to help Terri, but does not guarantee a particular outcome."

Frist also noted that the bill, responding to some Democratic objections, does not affect state assisted suicide laws or serve as a precedent for future legislation.

A Senate bill passed by the House is returned to the Senate enrollment clerk's office where it is printed on parchment and, when speed is important, driven immediately to the White House by Senate personnel. There, the White House clerk takes custody of the legislation and prepares it for the president to sign into law. The procedure is routine when quick action is important, such as on overdue budget bills, and can be handled in minutes as opposed to hours.

The White House made arrangements for Bush to sign the measure at any hour, although without fanfare.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said members scattered across the globe were being summoned back to Washington by aides to House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo. Blunt's office sent a notice to members on their handheld computers Friday to be prepared to return to Washington on Sunday, said spokeswoman Burson Taylor. In emergencies, when that does not work, the whip's office activates a phone tree, where one member is charged with calling the next. "We do anticipate a quorum," she said. Smith added, "It should come as no surprise to any members reading a newspaper or watching TV. Smith canceled an official trip to Albania to escort Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler, to Capitol Hill press conferences Sunday. The Democratic whip, Rep. Steny Hoyer (news, bio, voting record), D-Md., said his office was informing members of the vote and not discouraging them from returning to the capital. But he said the party was not counting votes and was telling members to vote their conscience on the issue. Schiavo has been in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years. Her feeding tubes were removed Friday afternoon at the request of her husband, who says that his wife expressed to him before she fell ill that she did not want to be kept alive under such circumstances. House and Senate committees at the end of the week issued subpoenas seeking to force the continuation of treatment, but that move was rejected by a Florida court. Schiavo could linger for one or two weeks if the tube is not reinserted, as has happened twice before. Republicans defined their extraordinary efforts in the context of the sanctity of life: "A society is judged by the way that it treats its most vulnerable citizens," said Rep. Mike Pence (news, bio, voting record), R-Ind. "No person in America should be deprived of the right to life without due process of law and Terri Schiavo is no different," Pence said. But Rep. Barney Frank (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., spoke of "the manifestation of a constitutional crisis" where Congress, for ideological reasons, was ignoring the separations of power written into the Constitution. Republicans distanced themselves from a memo suggesting GOP lawmakers could use the case to appeal to Christian conservative voters and to force Democrats into a difficult vote. "I hope we're not ... making this human tragedy a political issue," Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., told ABC's "This Week.We've got plenty of other issues that are political in nature for us to fight about."

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