Reid twice switches tax code vote

Friday, July 31, 1998 | 12:17 p.m.

Reid said Thursday he was unsure whether the amendment was the same one he had voted for when the Senate considered it in April.

At first he thought it was, and voted for it. Then he was told it was different, so he voted against it. But after looking at the amendment again, Reid decided it was virtually the same as the measure he voted for in April

His vote Tuesday didn't make a difference. The final tally ended up as a 49-49 tie. The amendment was rejected because it required 60 votes for passage.

Reid said his actions to kill the tax code weren't motivated by political considerations in an election year. He noted his previous vote to sunset the tax code, and also repeated his criticism of the legislation.

"I think what we did is symbolic only," Reid said. "It's a fig leaf. We will do something substantive when we adopt a different tax system."

Unlike Reid, Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., voted against the amendment to terminate the tax code.

Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., Reid's opponent in this year's election, said the senator's vote was purely political.

"It's funny that Harry Reid and the Democrats were criticizing me for voting to eliminate the tax code," Ensign said. "I think that he's reading the tea leaves - that the American people are sick of the IRS; they're sick of our tax code and they want to eliminate it."