Senate Dems seek to block Coconut Road probe

Senate Democrats are attempting to quash an amendment that would set up a congressional investigation into the notorious Coconut Road earmark and its unorthodox inclusion in the 2005 highway bill.

Instead, Democrats want to change the amendment to call on the Department of Justice (DoJ) to launch a criminal investigation into how the earmark was changed to build an interchange at Coconut Road, along Florida’s Interstate 75, after Congress approved the measure but before it reached the president’s desk.

{mosads}Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), an anti-earmark crusader, on Wednesday planned to offer an amendment to a bill making technical corrections to the 2005 transportation measure. The additional language would open a bicameral, bipartisan investigative committee with subpoena power. He argued that Congress could not force DoJ to investigate anything, so there was no way to ensure that the matter receives the scrutiny it deserves.

Earlier this week Coburn’s amendment had sparked opposition from some Democrats, who raised constitutional questions about whether members of the Senate should take part in a committee investigating the House.

Watchdog groups, including Taxpayers for Common Sense, have accused Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), who was chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee when the Coconut Road earmark was changed, or his staff of making the change.

Young’s critics argue the change was made to benefit Daniel Aronoff, who owns land along Coconut Road and helped organize a fundraiser for Young earlier that year.

Coburn also is opposed to handing the responsibility for investigating internal congressional abuses to the Justice Department.

“We will be setting a precedent that Congress says that the Justice Department should investigate us and sending a message to the American people that Congress cannot investigate ourselves,” he said.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who was shepherding the technical corrections bill and also chairs the Ethics Committee, disagreed.

“When there’s a knock on the door from the Justice Department, you know it’s serious and we’ll get to the bottom of this,” she said.

Votes on both versions of the amendment are expected Wednesday evening.