The Forum's July 12 editorial accusing the Democratic majority in the U.S. Congress of "bumbling" is far from the truth.
In the last six months, congressional Democrats have advocated for and passed legislation to: send overdue disaster relief to farmers and ranchers, raise the minimum wage, require benchmarks and progress reports for Iraq, pass the most sweeping lobby reform effort in a generation and provide the largest increase in support for veterans' services in history -- the list of accomplishments goes on and on.
For example, just last week, Democrats in the U.S. House advocated for and passed a bill increasing financial aid for college students. The legislation also helps mitigate the heavy burden of student loan payback. Unfortunately, President Bush threatened to veto it. On the other side of the U.S. Capitol, the Senate overwhelmingly passed an amendment strengthening efforts to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. This wise and timely piece of legislation was authored by our state's Democrat senators, Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad.
The Forum's editorial staff can call these efforts "bumbling," but these accomplishments are overdue and will affect Americans from coast to coast.
(Selzler is executive director of the Democratic-NPL party in North Dakota)
