Politics

Independence Day For Jeffords

June 6, 2001 / 3:56 PM EDT / AP

Sen. James Jeffords walked into the Senate chamber shortly after noon Wednesday, his first visit as an independent.

The Vermont senator cast a vote on an education amendment and then moved down the center aisle to check out his new seat on the Democratic side. It had been moved from the Republican side earlier in the day.

He walked down the third row, stopping at each desk until he found his own.

He sat down, gave a thumbs up to the press gallery, and grinned.

Jeffords, whose defection from the Republican Party handed control of the Senate to Democrats, was not in the chamber Wednesday morning during the ceremony transferring power. An aide said Jeffords did not want to distract from the ceremony.

Jeffords says his leaving the GOP has done more than turn over Senate control. He says his call for moderation has been heard loud and clear in the White House and by Senate Republicans.

"No question that the president and the members understand ... that I represent a large number of people's feelings about what the government should be doing," he said Tuesday, the day his departure from the GOP officially handed Senate control to the Democratic Party.

Jeffords' comments came after a meeting with President Bush on education issues, a meeting that Jeffords said showed the White House is reaching out to senators in ways it was not previously.

"It was obvious what their mission was and that was to have everybody talking and working together," he said.

Jeffords became an independent with the fall of the final gavel in the Senate Tuesday afternoon. The symbolic step, however, was taken earlier in the day when he walked into the weekly policy luncheon held by Democratic senators. They stood and applauded for several minutes.

"I was a little bit numbed," Jeffords said later, although he remembered salmon was on the menu.

Jeffords said the new majority leader, Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., "made a very glowing and wonderful tribute to me," which was followed by tributes from several Democrats, including Vermont's other senator, Patrick Leahy.

"It was very moving," said Jeffords.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., made one last effort to persuade Jeffords not to align himself with the Democrats. He met with Jeffords just before noon and suggested Jeffords call himself an independent but not side with the Democrats on organizational matters, a move that would leave the GOP in control.

"I said 'No,'" said Jeffords following that session. "My agreement to join them (the Democrats) for organizational purposes meant that I would do whatever necessary to make sure they had the effective majority they are entitled to."

Following the lunch, Jeffords left the Capitol to join other senators at a meeting with Bush on education issues.

Dozens of reporters and photographers waited for Jeffords as he left the building; crowds of tourists visiting the Capitol waited as well. When he appeared at the top of the stairs the tourists broke into pplause and cheers.

James Randall of California was among them. "I am so proud that someone stood up for his integrity and did what he did," he said. "This is the highlight of my trip."

Jeffords, 67, who served in the House for 14 years and in the Senate since 1989, said he had no regrets about his decision. "Never had second thoughts," he said, noting that Vermonters appear to strongly favor the move.

In making his announcement last month that he would leave the GOP, Jeffords said the party in general and the president in particular had become too conservative.

On Tuesday, he emphasized that point, that it was issues not people that caused his defection. "This was done solely because of our disagreement on issues," he said. "I feel very strongly they are on the wrong path with respect to the questions of education funding, as well as defense issues."