Burris Expects To Be Seated "Very Shortly"
4704690 As the once fierce opposition to seating Roland Burris in the Senate continues to fade, the would-be junior senator from Illinois gave a press conference Wednesday afternoon and said he expects to begin representing the state "very shortly."
An upbeat Burris said that he found Senate Majority Leader to be a "very warm and charming gentleman" when he met with him and Illinois senator Dick Durbin.
"It was as if I had known Sen. Reid for 30 years," Burris said of the man who had previously voiced his categorical opposition to seating anyone appointed by embattled Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich.
Asked about reports that Senate Democrats might require Burris to guarantee he wouldn't run to retain his Senate seat in 2010, the former Illinois attorney general said that such a condition "wasn't even on their radar screen."
Earlier on Wednesday, Reid said that he was waiting for a court ruling on whether the Illinois secretary of state is obligated to certify Burris before he can take his senate seat.
