McCaskill predicts busy session

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., officially took office Thursday after a swearing-in ceremony in Washington, D.C.

During an afternoon conference call from the Capitol, she told reporters she is anxious to get to work and predicts a flurry of activity in the first months the 110th Congress is in session.

McCaskill said likely action will include raising the federal minimum wage to $7.25 per hour, ethics reform to weaken the link between legislators and lobbyists, a bill to curtail the sources of global warming and a bill to allow stem-cell research.

McCaskill, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said there will also be oversight of the Iraq war. She would not rule out supporting the likely call from President Bush to send more U.S. troops but said it will take a lot of convincing.

"This is about whether or not this president is going to continue to operate from a position where he is completely disconnected from the American public," she said.

She also said she'll have a lot of questions for both the president and newly appointed Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

"What is the mission? What are these troops going to do that the current troops aren't doing or cannot do?"

"By sending 20,000 or more into Iraq, what impact is that going to have to our military strength as it relates to our ability to respond around the world? Particularly in light of the volatility in Iran and North Korea."

She conceded, however, the only direct oversight the Armed Services Committee can have of troop levels is through its ability to cut military funding, something that "really isn't an option."

McCaskill said her first impressions of the Senate on Thursday were as "a glorious place to celebrate the most enduring democracy ever created."

So glorious, in fact, she almost wasn't allowed in.

McCaskill said she was blocked from the Senate door by a guard who didn't recognize her and demanded a floor pass.

"I just laughed about it," she said.

She is also laughing at her current Senate office on the eighth floor of the Hart Senate Office Building. She said the office was "rough" and "not very big" but that she'd be happy to stay there for the next six years.

"I'm just senator 97 out of 100," she said of the ranking system used to decide office positioning.

On taking the oath, she said, her thoughts rested with some of the great Missouri senators who came before her, such as Harry Truman, Stuart Symington and Tom Eagleton. Eagleton was scheduled to attend the ceremony but was unable to because of health problems.

"The handwritten amendment that began the process of shutting down the Vietnam War was written by Tom Eagleton," she said of the 1973 Eagleton Amendment, which halted bombing in Cambodia.

McCaskill was joined by her husband, Joe Shepard, and 21 other family members who watched from the gallery. She was escorted to take the oath by former Senator Jean Carnahan and Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo.

McCaskill said that though she often disagrees with Bond, who campaigned fiercely for her Republican opponent, Jim Talent, she anticipates some partnership.

"We've got to get beyond this partisan bickering where it's all about the next election cycle," she said.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

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