Allen: Did he “borrow” the Durbin amendment?

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From this post, it looks a bit suspicious:

Asking to speak before Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Allen introduced an amendment to the Department of Defense appropriations bill that would provide $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.

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?

Well, seems that Ted Kennedy had the same question. (If you see a white space below, YouTube is down.)

Hm – I guess changing “may” to “shall” (or “will” to “shall” as I have seen elsewhere) constitutes a difference 🙂

UPDATE: Here is a pdf of the actual amendments. Check it out for yourself.

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25 thoughts on “Allen: Did he “borrow” the Durbin amendment?”

  1. Vivian,

    Looks like Captain Confederacy feels the need to look productive, what a damn shame. He has had 6 years to do that and look at the mess we are in after he has relentlessly persued his wingunt agenda of social conservatism.

  2. From the Congressional Record:

    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.

    {15:39:52 NSP} (THE PRESIDING OFFICER) { NOT AN OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT } THE PRESIDING OFFICER: IS THERE OBJECTION? WITHOUT OBJECTION.

    {15:39:57 NSP} (MR. DURBIN) { NOT AN OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT }
    MR. DURBIN: IF SENATOR ALLEN WANTS TO CHANGE THIS IN ANY WAY, I’LL BE HAPPY TO DO THAT. AND I SUGGEST THE ABSENCE OF A QUORUM.

  4. so who cares about helping veterans, just that Allen jumped ahead of Durbin, IF that is what happened? Neither has said anything, they could have been working together. And from Jim’s comments above, it looks like it was Senator Allen’s amendment.

    This is just another attempt to take the Senator’s race down into the mud.

  5. So let’s see, Durbin spends a week working on the language, generating bipartisan support, and then Allen, changes a word, rushes the ammendment to the floor and claims the ammendment as his own?

    From the YouTube clip it’s absolutely clear that Allen has no idea what this ammendment is about. The fact that the estimable Ted Stevens rushes to his defense to “clarify” the meaning speaks volumes.

    I agree that this is a good ammendment, but a more classy legislator would have simply signed on his support–and given credit where it was due.

    These kind of actions would have gotten Allen tossed out of any university, and would have resulted in a serious reprimand in any elementary school. Why should our Senators be held to a different, and substantially lower standard?

  6. Watching the video, one can’t dispute the fact that Allen had no idea what was in his amendment – I suppose he didn’t bother to read it. GOP senator Ted Stevens had to correct Allen on the only difference in “his” amendment and Durbin’s – the use of the word “shall” instead of “will”.

    hr and Jim –
    George Allen’s conduct in this is shameful. It is not a matter of whether it ended up being a bipartisan amendment. It is a matter of being truthful. Allen clearly stole Durbin’s amendment and tried to pass it off as his own. Another low road for Allen.

  7. LOL…Allen is such a dufass pulling such a stunt. He’d of been kicked out of school for plagiarism.

    IT goes like this. Durbin did all the prep work and even had copies of his amendment printed up and was pre-scheduled to speak on his amendment.

    Allen, who has been getting criticism for not sponsoring any bills, and previously voting to cut funds for the vet’s brain trauma center in an earlier bill rushed into the chamber and asked for permission to speak ahead of Durbin….He then introduced his new amendment that had not been pre-printed, pre-scheduled, etc…and was obviously not worked out “in a bipartisan” way with other members of Congress.

    Plus…in the future a Senator will think twice before granting Allen permission to speak after a stunt like this. No one likes having their work stolen. Thank heavens Durbin is the bigger man and put his bill first and accomodated having Allen b/c the sponsor of an amendment.

    Allen ends up looking like the fool that he is and he blatently stole the work and ideas of someone else. This is not a Senator working in a bipartisan way. This is a Senator only looking out for himself. If this is the kind of Senator HR Conservative supports supports so be it.

    Sorry, but my standards are set higher for anyone representing me.

  12. As Reagan said, “You can get a whole lot done if you don’t care who gets the credit.” Does it really matter whose name is on the amendment? Call it the Fred Flintstone amendment for all I care, so long as it passes.

  14. Pingback: The Ward View » Blog Archive » More Lies from the Webb Camp

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