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Burris determined to take his Senate seat today
By LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press
January 6, 2009
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama's appointed successor declared Tuesday morning he's qualified to take a seat in the Senate and said he'll go to Capitol Hill Tuesday to do just that.
"I'm presenting myself as the legally appointed senator from the state of Illinois. It is my hope and prayer that they recognize that the appointment is legal," Roland Burris said in a nationally broadcast interview just hours before the Senate convenes with the start of the 111th Congress.
Burris dismissed the Senate Democratic leadership's position that he cannot be seated because he was appointed by a governor accused in a criminal complaint of trying to benefit financially from his authority to fill the seat that Obama vacated after winning the presidential election.
"As I read the U.S. Constitution," he said on CBS's "The Early Show," it says the "governor shall fill a vacancy, and as a former attorney general of my state, I have no knowledge of where a secretary of state has veto power over a governor carrying out his constitutional duties."
Burris also maintained that the announcement by Gov. Rod Blagojevich Monday of a date for an election for a successor to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., proves the governor still has legal authority to carry out his duties. Emanuel will be Obama's White House chief of staff.
"There's nothing wrong with Roland Burris and there's nothing wrong with the appointment," Burris said.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Roland Burris is declaring himself legally qualified to take his seat in the Senate and says he plans to appear there to do just that.
Burris said there is nothing to arguments by critics and the Democratic leadership that his appointment is invalid or inappropriate because it came from disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (bluh-GOY-uh-vich).
Burris said Tuesday morning that "I'm certainly presenting myself as the legally appointed senator from the state of Illinois. It is my hope and prayer that they recognize that the appointment is legal."
Burris, interviewed on CBS's "The Early Show," said he believes the fact that Blagojevich on Monday set an election date for a successor to Rep. Rahm Emanuel proves that the governor's appointment of him to the Senate is valid, constitutional and binding.
The Senate is scheduled to convene at noon Tuesday.
Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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