McCaskill Claims Talent Flip-Flopped On Wiretap Issue
2006-09-15
Source: TheKansasCityChannel.com
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rss feedU.S. Senate Democratic candidate Claire McCaskill has accused U.S. Sen. Jim Talent of flip-flopping on the issue of national security wiretaps.
KMBC's Micheal Mahoney reported that the top question for many Missourians and many Americans is "Are we safe?" Talent's re-election campaign hopes his support of the president on the issue will help him win his Senate race. But the McCaskill campaign pointed to a 1996 Talent vote that they claim shows that Talent is playing politics.
After the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, the Clinton White House asked for more power to combat terrorism. Part of it included giving Washington more wiretapping authority. But that part of the bill was removed by the House by an amendment. Talent, who was then a congressman, voted for that amendment, Mahoney reported.
"His new ads suggest he's a supporter of giving the president that kind of authority, but his record on this vote indicates that's not to be the fact," said Paige Bellamy, a McCaskill spokesman.
At the time, Talent told a newspaper reporter, "We've got to look very carefully at any proposals to give more discretionary power to law enforcement agencies."
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