Sen Reid Named Minority Whip

The Senate began its post-election reorganization last week, choosing party leaders and assigning lawmakers to committees.

The Democrats chose Sen. Harry Reid (Nev.) as their minority whip, and that may cause some difficulties for trucking. In his new role, Mr. Reid will help set the Senate agenda, including which bills are considered and the length of debate. He succeeds Sen. Wendell Ford (D-Ky.), who is retiring.

Trucking opposed Mr. Reid’s re-election this year because of his attempts to ban triple-trailer trucks nationwide. Mr. Reid dropped his proposal last spring, saying he lacked enough votes because of aggressive lobbying by trucking.

“I don’t know how he will react,” said Daryl Capurro, managing director of the Nevada Motor Transport Assn. “I have a feeling he still thinks that longer combination vehicles are a safety problem because of a personal experience, and he doesn’t seem to be swayed by government statistics that show otherwise. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s still in the back of his mind.

“He does know that the industry is not happy with him. He might be a bit more amenable to listening, but it’s hard to tell with Harry,” Mr. Capurro said.

As expected, Sen. Trent Lott (Miss.) had no opposition among Republicans and was re-elected majority leader. Majority Whip Don Nickles (Okla.), Republican Conference Chairman Connie Mack (Fla.), Conference Secretary Paul Coverdell (Ga.) and Policy Committee Chairman Larry Craig (Idaho) also retained their party posts.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.) easily overcame criticism of the party’s failure to pick up additional Senate seats in last month’s election to stay on as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Senate Democrats had no contested races. Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.) will remain the Democrats’ top spokesman, Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (Md.) was re-elected conference secretary and Sen. Robert Torricelli (N.J.) succeeded Sen. Bob Kerrey (Neb.) as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.