advertisement

Kirk discusses upcoming votes, leadership strategy in Senate

Mark Kirk has a unique opportunity in joining the Senate more than a month before his peers.

Sworn into office on Monday, he will have the chance to cast votes on a number of controversial issues affecting suburban residents tax cuts and immigration among them during the remaining days of the lame-duck session and will establish seniority over the rest of his class of freshman senators, which could prove advantageous in the coming months. With Kirk, Republicans will have 42 votes in the Senate a number that will rise to 47 in January.

Kirk was sworn into office by Vice President Joe Biden. On the chamber floor with him as he received the oath were Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and former Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald Kirk's suburban predecessor in the Senate.

Nearly 100 relatives, friends and supporters looking on from the Senate gallery. They included ex-wife Kimberly Vertolli, the family of fallen Lance Cpl. James Stack of Arlington Heights, and Mettawa trustee and blogger Larry Falbe, who called the ceremony “very formal yet very touching.”

Fresh off a Thanksgiving celebration with his family in Kenilworth, Kirk sat down with the Daily Herald over the weekend and talked about his strategy for the weeks ahead, about the votes he plans to cast and about the political figures he plans to lean on.

Q. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid has promised the DREAM Act legislation providing undocumented children a path to citizenship will come up for a vote. Do you still believe, as you first stated in Oct. 7, that this is not the time to do this?A. #8220;Yeah. Very much so. (We need to) secure the southern border first. Also, there's an overarching theme. A lame-duck Congress should not make huge decisions for the future. While under our constitution they do have a vote, there's just a common sense that the big decisions for the country should be made by people who just won the election.#8221;Q. Obama is calling for tax cuts to be extended only for individuals making less than $200,000 and couples making less than $250,000 a year. Republicans want tax cuts extended for the wealthy, leaving the possibility that no compromise can be reached and taxes could rise for everyone come Jan. 1. What needs to be done?A. #8220;We shouldn't have a big tax increase Dec. 1. I worry about a double-dip recession. But the two (political parties) have been moving toward the middle. And President (Obama's) advisers have now signaled they're shifting very quickly, to either extending them like former Obama budget director Peter Orszag says, or raising the number up and up and up. I would say that the center of the Senate, where we'll go is the Orszag plan, a two-year extension of all rates, which I support.#8221;Q. Talk about the first piece of legislation you plan to introduce in the Senate. A. #8220;My first bill in the Senate will the Spending Control Act. Essentially, marry two successful efforts to cut the budget the Grace Commission of the 1980s (aimed at reducing federal spending) and how military bases are closed.#8221; Q. You have a distinct advantage over other elected senators by being sworn in two months early. Can you talk about that advantage and your strategy moving forward?A. Seniority matters less with the other party (than) with your own party. I do get sworn in ahead of the other 12 Republican senators. As far as my strategy, I take office in all humility (knowing) that 48 percent voted for me, 46 voted for my main opponent. We had a tough election, now we made a decision, and my job is to represent everybody. First of all, we're listening. Doing all these town halls. And we're coming home a lot. In the beginning, my priority is fiscal discipline.#8221;Q. What committees are you hoping to serve on in the Senate?A. #8220;Appropriations I know it best, having served in the House committee. Commerce because it controls the transportation budget (and) Illinois is the crossroads of the nation. Banking Chicagoland and Bloomington are huge job engines. And agriculture because it's such a big export market.#8221;Q. Have you seen the generals' report on repeal of the #8216;don't ask, don't tell' policy on gays in the military? How has it changed your position on the policy, which is expected to come up for a vote in the coming weeks?A. #8220;No. I'm going to sit down with it, read every word of it, I'll probably see if I can sit down with the chief of naval operations, too, and go through what he wrote.#8221;Q. With the Senate being more prestigious and smaller than the House, do you have the opportunity to hire on more staff?A. #8220;Yes. We go from representing 800,000 people to roughly 12 million. So my staff goes from 18 to roughly 50. We're going to establish offices in Chicago, Springfield, Metro East, and then obviously have the office in Washington. Initially, I get Sen. (Roland) Burris' old office in the Russell (Senate Office) Building. We're in a double-wide trailer right now, in the courtyard of the Russell building. They then do a new lottery, and we get our final office around March.#8221;Q. Have you leaned on former suburban Sen. Peter Fitzgerald for advice?A. #8220;Completely. I was very honored he attended a fundraiser for me. The battle he waged to appoint (U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois) Patrick Fitzgerald I could not be more proud of him. In many ways he helped save this state. Had it not been Fitzgerald, had we had a district attorney (who was) a poodle instead of an attack dog, think of what could have happened to our state. In the next six years, I could well be seeing a replacement. I want to be very much in Peter's mold in finding the most aggressive anti-public corruption attorney.#8221;Q. How are you going to work with Gov. Quinn and other Illinois leaders?A. #8220;I want to sit down with (Illinois House Speaker Mike) Madigan. I'm obviously very close to (Senate Republican leader Christine) Radogno and (House Republican Leader) Tom Cross. Now that I'm a senator for Illinois, I have to have a relationship with (Illinois Senate President John) Cullerton and Madigan.#8221;

How Kirk will vote