Hillary Is 'Madame President'

Hillary Is 'Madame President'

NewsMax.com Wires
Thursday, Jan. 25, 2001

WASHINGTON (UPI) – The junior senator from New York made an auspicious debut Wednesday as the president of the Senate, at least for a few hours.

Sen. Hillary Clinton followed Senate tradition, which calls for junior members to serve as chairman of the Senate during periods of little important activity. In addressing the chair, members referred to Clinton as "Madame President."

Clinton presided over little action except brief speeches by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who criticized some early moves of the Bush administration, and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., who set a vote schedule for next week's consideration of remaining nominees for President Bush's administration.

In past Congresses, only members of the majority party could sit in the chair, but Democratic leader Thomas Daschle, D-S.D., said the decision to share the duties was made as part of the power-sharing agreement brokered between Lott and Daschle earlier this month.

Daschle said that the agreement helped build bipartisan cheer between opponents and that he would continue the practice if his party regained control of the Senate.

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