Party Lines: Infighting Illini

W A S H I N G T O N, Sept. 29 -- House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, the mild-mannered former wrestling coach Republicans chose to lead them after they sent Newt Gingrich into political exile and impeached President Clinton, has found himself in a testy public feud with a fellow Illinois Republican.

The fight with Sen. Peter Fitzgerald — over construction of the Abraham Lincoln Library in Springfield, Ill. — could not come at a worse time, as GOP leaders scurry to complete the annual budget process and adjourn the 106th Congress.

Fitzgerald said he would block bipartisan legislation funding $50 million for the project because Hastert has not included his language requiring competitive bidding for its construction. Fitzgerald said his amendment is necessary to prohibit politically connected developers from winning contracts for the library, a priority project that has been in the works for years.

Keeping Honest Abe Library Honest

After bursting into a closed-door meeting on the Interior appropriations bill — the measure Hastert planned to attach the library funding to — Fitzgerald threatened to filibuster, or talk the bill to death, unless his provision was reinserted. He called Hastert’s efforts to move the House-passed version of the legislation, without his language, “morally and ethically wrong,” and said he would not be “bullied by the speaker of the House.”

Hastert blasted back with a press release, noting that the state of Illinois passed a law in 1998 that requires competitive bidding.

“I find Senator Fitzgerald’s political grandstanding on the Abraham Lincoln Library outrageous,” Hastert said. He added, “I find it particularly disturbing that the senator has changed his mind without consulting anyone.”

But it appears that Fitzgerald, who like all 22 members of the Illinois delegation is a co-sponsor of the legislation, has not removed his threat of a filibuster.

“What Hastert said is that the state procurement statute is strong enough. The senator has served the state for many years and there are plenty of examples of politically connected insiders getting contracts,” said Mike Cys, communications director for Fitzgerald. “He wants to make sure that the taxpayers’ money for a facility honoring Honest Abe is spent honestly.”