US Senate leaders forecast election outcomes

25 October 2006 20:57  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (ICIS news)--US Senate Democrat leader Charles Schumer (New York) said on Wednesday his party was “on the edge of taking back the Senate” in next month’s elections but Republican Senate leader Elizabeth Dole (North Carolina) predicted her party will retain the majority.

 

Schumer and Dole traded partisan charges over the war in Iraq, homeland security and energy policies at a press luncheon with Schumer promising that if Democrats take control of the Senate “we will bring about a real energy policy, one that doesn’t just listen to the oil companies.”

 

All 435 seats in the US House of Representatives and 33 of the Senate’s 100 positions are in contention in the 7 November mid-term elections. Democrats were given better odds of winning the 15 seats needed to take control of the House than for gaining six seats they would need to be the majority party in the Senate.

 

A shift in control of Congress from Republicans to Democrats could mean significant legislative and regulatory challenges for US chemicals manufacturers, according to industry observers.

 

Schumer charged that the administration of President George W. Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress have failed to devote full attention to homeland security matters, leaving the US vulnerable to attack. Dole cited congressional passage of various items of homeland security legislation - which included last month’s enactment of chemical plant site protection standards.

 

Dole conceded that Republicans have a “formidable task” in defending Senate seats in a mid-term election when the incumbent party typically loses seats in both the House and Senate.  However, she said, “we will hold the majority in the Senate when the election is done.”

 

Schumer and Dole each heads their party's Senate campaign committee.

By: Joe Kamalick
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