Senator Harry Reid
Biography and Quotes

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"President Bush is a liar," Reid, the Senate's Assistant Majority Leader, said. "He betrayed Nevada and he betrayed the country."

March 05, 2002 Political rift could hurt state's Yucca fight
By Erin Neff LAS VEGAS SUN
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/text/2002/mar/05/513129172.html

"I am writing to apologize for the tone of this document and the decision to single out individual senators for criticism in it," Reid said of the 27-page statement sent by his communications office Tuesday. The release, titled, "Republicans cannot be trusted to end the culture of corruption," triggered sharp complaints from GOP officials, who said it violated Senate decorum and brought campaign-style mudslinging into the Capitol.

For example, the document reached back into GOP Sen. George Allen's days as Virginia governor to note that he once "kept a noose and a confederate flag in his office and home" (a controversy dating from the 1993 campaign) and in 1994 called the federal government a "beast of tyranny and oppression." It said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2000 included a proposed Mississippi River flood-control levee on his list of congressional "pork."

The document accused Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) of saying "global warming is a conspiracy and a hoax." After noting that Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) had received many thousands of dollars from Abramoff clients, the document raised other complaints, including: "Burns reportedly told a female flight attendant that she could just stay home with her kids if her job was outsourced."

The document quoted a Web site devoted to news about Native Americans as saying "the chief of the Wyandotte Nation criticized Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) for taking 'dirty money' from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff." It also reached to the mid-1990s to tie Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio) -- who was governor at the time -- to a more recently exposed state government scandal involving investment of public funds in rare coins. "Voinovich Administration approved Ohio's $25 million investment in Tom Noe's coin scheme,"the document states.

A year after becoming Democratic leader, Reid has several times drawn notice for his sharp tongue, which sometimes has not been helpful to his own cause. Last February, the Republican National Committee sent a million people a 13-page flier attacking Reid's Senate record and labeling him the "chief Democrat obstructionist." The next day, the National Senatorial Republican Committee issued a release containing a 2002 quote in which Reid called President Bush "a liar."

Reid Apologizes for News Release on GOP Document 'Went Too Far,' Democrat Says
By Charles Babington Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, January 20, 2006; Page A04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/19/AR2006011903106.html

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid called President Bush "a loser" during a civics discussion with a group of teenagers at a high school on Friday.

"The man's father is a wonderful human being," Reid, D-Nev., told students at Del Sol High School when asked about the president's policies. "I think this guy is a loser."

Senate Leader Calls Bush 'A Loser'
LAS VEGAS, May 7, 2005
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/07/politics/main693713.shtml

Reid called on Americans to “oppose this arrogant abuse of power” and accused Bush and his Republican allies in the Senate of trying to “break down the separation of powers and ram through their appointees to the judicial branch.”

Reid threatens partial Senate shutdown Parties hurtle toward April clash over Democratic filibusters of Bush judicial nominees
By Tom Curry National affairs writer MSNBC Updated: 3:05 p.m. PT March 15, 2005
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7193614/

"To me it shows how dangerously incompetent he is," Reid said. "'Stay the course, mission accomplished, bring 'em on,' the American people are sick of that. We need to change course in Iraq. ... I think the president burying his head in the sand is not going to do the trick."

Reid: Bush 'Dangerously Incompetent'
LAS VEGAS, March 23, 2006
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/23/politics/main1432159.shtml

"I was prepared to look past these memos, and chalk them up to the folly of youth," Reid said in his speech. But in last week's Judiciary Committee hearing, he said, Roberts adopted "what I consider a disingenuous strategy of suggesting that the views expressed in those memos were not his views. . . . We should only vote to confirm this nominee if we are absolutely positive that he is the right person" for a lifetime appointment on the nation's highest court.

Reid Will Oppose Roberts for Chief Justice But Leader Predicts Easy Confirmation With 'Plenty of Votes' From Democrats
By Charles Babington and Dan Balz Washington Post Staff Writers Wednesday, September 21, 2005; Page A03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/20/AR2005092000915.html

"The nomination of Judge Alito requires an especially long hard look by the Senate because of what happened last week to Harriet Miers. Conservative activists forced Miers to withdraw from consideration for this same Supreme Court seat because she was not radical enough for them. Now the Senate needs to find out if the man replacing Miers is too radical for the American people.

"I am disappointed in this choice for several reasons. First, unlike previous nominations, this one was not the product of consultation with Senate Democrats. Last Friday, Senator Leahy and I wrote to President Bush urging him to work with us to find a consensus nominee. The President has rejected that approach.

"Second, this appointment ignores the value of diverse backgrounds and perspectives on the Supreme Court. The President has chosen a man to replace Sandra Day O’Connor, one of only two women on the Court. For the third time, he has declined to make history by nominating the first Hispanic to the Court. And he has chosen yet another federal appellate judge to join a court that already has eight justices with that narrow background. President Bush would leave the Supreme Court looking less like America and more like an old boys club.

Monday, Oct. 31, 2005 7:57 a.m. EST
Reid 'Disappointed' Over Alito Pick
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/10/31/75831.shtml

The Senate Democratic leader said Sunday that presidential adviser Karl Rove should resign because of his role in exposing an undercover CIA officer, and a veteran Republican senator said President Bush needs "new blood" in his White House.

"First of all, the vice president issues this very terse statement praising Libby for all the great things he's done," Reid said. "Then we have the president come on camera a few minutes later calling him Scooter and what a great patriot he is. There has not been an apology to the American people for this obvious problem in the White House,"

Sen. Harry Reid Calls For Rove's Resignation
NewsMax.com Wires Monday, Oct. 31, 2005
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/10/30/193109.shtml