By Kevin Boneske
For The News-Chronicle
Around 20 people assembled at the Luxemburg Village Hall before 8 a.m. Saturday when U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold conducted his annual Kewaunee County "listening session."
Feingold, who is starting the sixth year of his second six-year term in office, made his 12th annual visit to the county as part of his pledge to hold the sessions every year in each of Wisconsin's 72 counties.
The Middleton Democrat was on hand at the Village Hall for about an hour as he fielded questions on various issues from those in attendance. He was joined at the front table by Luxemburg Village President Lyle Jandrin.
Wisconsin's junior senator highlighted his opposition to Medicare legislation which passed in Congress recently. Feingold displayed poster boards calling the bill a "bad deal for seniors, bad deal for Medicare" and claiming how the "prescription drug bill falls short" by providing "big money for big drug companies."
Although he voted for the original Medicare bill which passed in the Senate last year, Feingold said he voted against the final version which emerged from a House-Senate conference committee because of "the overall harm it does to the Medicare system."
"There are three important reasons why I voted against this bill: it moves to privatize Medicare, it does nothing to reign in the skyrocketing prices of prescription drugs, and it will make many Wisconsinites worse off than they are now," Feingold said. "I want a prescription drug benefit for seniors. They need it and they deserve it. But this bill would do too much harm to the Medicare program, while providing a weak prescription drug benefit to our seniors."
Feingold said the Medicare legislation restricts the reimportation of lower-cost U.S-made drugs from Canada and other countries and prohibits Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices. Feingold noted he would like to see less-expensive prescription drugs from Canada become more available in the United States.
"We obviously have to make sure the drugs go through the proper process, but I think, until we can get the prices down here, people should be able to buy those medicines from Canada," Feingold said. "And I think most people agree with me on that." Feingold commented on being the lone U.S. Senator who opposed legislation known as the "Patriot Act," which was enacted by Congress following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the East Coast. While he has received both praise and criticism for voting against a bill intended to combat terrorism, Feingold said he wants to change what he believes is flawed with the legislation.
"A lot of gun owners are upset about some of the powers that have been given to the federal government," he said. "We're going to try to change that." When asked about the right to bear arms, Feingold acknowledged he originally voted in favor of banning so-called semi-automatic "assault weapons." But he said he hasn't sponsored legislation to continue the ban and is now "leaning against" renewing it.
"At these town meetings over the years, I've heard a lot of people say there might have been some misinformation about what these weapons - guns - really are," Feingold said. "There are some semi-automatics that really aren't assault (weapons)."
Feingold confirmed an Associated Press report that he opposes a constitutional amendment banning homosexual marriages, even though a recent Badger Poll found nearly two-thirds of Wisconsin residents would support such an amendment. He said the issue should left up to the states to decide. "I'm not going to sit there (in Washington, D.C.) and let the United States Constitution be used as a way to regulate marriage," Feingold said. "I don't think you want us doing that stuff out there."
Feingold, who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, defended his actions from last year to block up-or-down votes on some of GOP President George W. Bush's federal appeals court nominees. Without 60 votes to end floor debate on a filibuster, Feingold and other Democrats blocked majority confir mation votes in the 100-member Senate.
"The Senate operates on the basis not of a majority, but usually on the basis of 60 votes," Feingold said. "That's the way it's been, and that's the way it should be."
Feingold pointed out he needed 60 votes in order to get campaign finance legislation he co-sponsored passed in the Senate. Although subsequently challenged in court, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 last year to uphold the law placing new restrictions on federal campaign activities.
When asked if it would be appropriate - regardless of who is elected president in November - for the next U.S. Supreme Court nominee to have to face a filibuster in order receive Senate confirmation, Feingold said, "I think it's very unlikely. I think the Supreme Court nomination is more likely to be a situation where ultimately there would be an up-or-down vote. That's my guess, but I don't know for sure."
While Feingold said he wouldn't allow up-or-down votes on a couple of female state Supreme Court judges from Texas and California, who were nominated for federal appeals court positions, because they were unqualified, he noted he plans on supporting Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Diane Sykes for a federal appeals court position.
"Not only am I not opposing Diane Sykes, I'm going to be vigorously trying to get her through the (Senate Judiciary) Committee," Feingold said. "I support her nomination to the Seventh Circuit (Court of Appeals)."
The political ramifications of Sykes being confirmed for a federal appeals court position would include Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, being able to appoint someone to complete the remainder of Sykes' term on the state Supreme Court, which runs through 2010.
Regarding the recent discovery of an animal in Washington state with "Mad Cow Disease," Feingold called Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean's attack on the Bush Administration, during Dean's recent visit to Green Bay, "a little transparent."
While claiming he didn't want to "cheap-shot" the administration over the incident, Feingold said the USDA has been dominated by "big corporate agriculture interests" and hasn't been acting in the "interest of average producer as fast as they should."
"It's almost a crippling effect," Feingold said. "And so, it takes something awful like this to get them to get off the dime and just do some common-sense things."
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