This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, April 7, 2011 - WASHINGTON - When U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt finally escapes the windowless confines of his temporary basement quarters Friday and moves into his predecessor's office in the Russell Building, he will be following a Show-Me tradition in the Senate.
Blunt, R-Mo., is moving into the now vacant quarters of former Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., who chose it because it used to be the office of former Democratic senator Harry S Truman -- who graduated from the Senate to become the last Missourian to occupy the White House.
"Truman had two offices while he was in the Senate, and they were both within this block of rooms," Blunt told the Beacon in an interview Thursday. "We're glad to have it. I assume I'll never move from those offices while I'm in the Senate."
Since December, Blunt and his staff have been crammed into drab rooms in the basement of another Senate office building, waiting for their office assignment. Given Blunt's long relationship with Bond -- who gave him his first big political break in 1973 -- and their similar positions on most issues, the move seems apt.
So far, Blunt has followed the Republican leadership line on major issues, voting for spending cuts, in opposition to last year's health-care overhaul, and -- on Wednesday -- for an unsuccessful amendment that would have barred the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. He has stuck to the priorities he listed in his campaign last fall and when he started in the Senate.
While Bond has said that he had initial difficulties making the transition from the executive power as Missouri's governor to the legislative grind in the Senate minority, Blunt is an old hand at the legislative role, having served 14 years in the U.S. House, including stints as minority leader and acting majority leader.
On the day he was sworn into office in January, Blunt was named by the Republican whip, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., to his leadership team. That "whip team," as it is known, is responsible for building support for the GOP legislative agenda, counting votes and helping the minority leader develop a legislative agenda and strategy.
In an interview with the Beacon, Blunt outlined some of his priorities and observations on Missouri matters and national issues in the Senate. He said:
-- He has "a good relationship" with Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and plans to work with her on issues such as the proposed Midwest China Hub, making sure Missouri gets its fair share from the highway bill and other transportation measures, and on Mississippi and Missouri River issues.
"My goal this year is to focus on the things we can do together. She and I talk a lot, our staffs talk a lot," he said. "There are lots of Missouri issues that we agree on. And I think 2011 is the year we both need to be doing everything that we can to move those issues forward."
But next year, when McCaskill is up for re-election and politics tends to become more stratified, "there will be plenty of time to talk about the big issues that we disagree on." Blunt added: "I don't vote with her very often and don't anticipate that I will."
* The Missouri delegation in Congress will lose some clout with the loss of a House seat, but otherwise its members will try to focus on common ground despite ideological and party differences.
"I think the Missouri delegation has gotten along extraordinarily well and effectively over the last several years," Blunt said. However, he added: "Just the dynamic of eliminating one of the House seats impacts that" -- by lessening "the influence you have in national discussions. In the next Congress, there will be one fewer Missourian serving on committees in the House."
* He hasn't taken a position on the Missouri Legislature's efforts to develop a congressional redistricting plan.
"I think it's a plan the Republican members have all signed off on," Blunt said. He added: "I don't have a plan, don't have a preference."
* Time is running out for Congress to reform corporate tax rates.
"What I thought was the one substantive proposal in the State of the Union message was reducing the corporate tax in a revenue-neutral way that eliminates the complexity from the tax code and gets the rate down," Blunt said.
"But the further we get into the year, I think the less likely anything will be done about that. And you don't hear much from the White House on that right now. From Labor Day on, presidential politics tends to overwhelm most big issues."
* He wants to promote "family values" in his new position as co-chairman of the "Values Action Team," along with fellow freshman Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.
"We want to be sure that we're talking to our friends who are concerned about issues that impact families," Blunt said. "Those can be issues from adoption to pro-life issues to the Defense of Marriage Act." He said the VAT team maintains relations with "conservative grassroots leaders," including anti-abortion groups.
* He doesn't have a favorite among the potential GOP presidential nominees.
"I know a lot of them, I like them. Let's see how it plays out," he said.
* He won't support an increase in the national debt ceiling when it comes to a vote next month unless such a move is coupled with "structural reforms" in the budget process.
"There's absolutely no reason to support the debt ceiling if we're just going to continue doing what we've been doing" with the budget.
Blunt wants to link any such increase with reforms such as two-year appropriations, a balanced budget amendment, or limiting government expenditures to a percentage of the gross domestic product.
* In finding ways to reduce federal spending, defense and entitlement programs should be on the table for possible budget reductions or restructuring.
"I think everything -- including defense and the entitlement programs -- have to be looked at carefully to see ... how we can produce a better result and spend less money."