LETTER: Reid’s voting history inacurate

To the editor:

    By the time this letter is printed in The Statesman, election day will have passed and, barring a recount or legal battles, the race between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and challenger Sharon Angle will have been decided. I am perfectly fine with Renae Cowley’s support of the Tea Party-backed Angle despite my own personal disagreement.

    What I am not perfectly fine with, however, is Cowley’s willful ignorance of the facts concerning Harry Reid’s record in office. She writes “The decision to legalize abortions, allow for gay marriage, implement universal healthcare, and end Bush’s tax cuts DO play a part in my life,” thereby implying Sen. Reid falls into these categories.

    I wasn’t aware Harry Reid was on the Supreme Court in 1973 that legalized a woman’s right to choose. In fact, Cowley may be surprised to know that Sen. Reid has twice voted against partial-birth abortion, voted in favor of banning abortions on military bases, and in favor of prohibiting minors from crossing state lines to receive an abortion.

    As far as gay marriage goes, Sen. Reid voted in favor of The Defense of Marriage Act which prohibits the federal government from recognizing gay marriages, and protects states from having to recognize gay marriages performed in other states. Reid, as an active member of the LDS church, supports “marriage between a man and a woman.”

    The recently passed health care bill is certainly expansive, and Cowley is free to disagree with its passage as I do, but it can hardly be deemed “universal healthcare.” And finally, I was surprised to learn that Ms. Cowley in her position at The Statesman makes over $250,000 a year and will therefore be impacted if the Bush Tax cuts on those over that threshold are not renewed.

    Cowley is free to politically disagree with Sen. Reid and to support his opponent, but as a journalist she is not free to make up her own facts to support her position. By doing so she unnecessarily mischaracterizes a distinguished USU alum.

Isaac Higham