Senate to Give Travel Bill Another Try
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Monday that he intends to resurrect a travel promotion bill before adjourning for the August recess.
The legislation, which Republicans filibustered on June 22, is a top priority for Reid, who is up for re-election next year in a tourism-driven state.
Reid praised the “solid, important, bipartisan bill— on the Senate floor Monday, noting it “will create tens of thousands of new jobs, cut our deficit by almost half a billion [dollars] and help our economy recover.—
Republicans beat back the measure last month just after Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) — who was expected to rally GOP support for it — revealed his affair with a former campaign aide. Ensign was absent from the chamber during the week the travel bill was last on the floor, which many saw as a major blow to the legislation.
Reid on Monday did not say when the Senate would reconsider the measure. It will have to compete with an already packed schedule that includes two appropriations bills and the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.