June 10, 2002 -- SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA (APJP) -- Even as George W. Bush reassured the nation last week on TV that he was going to get to work on fighting terrorism, at least one Republican Senator, a member of Bush's own party, was quietly working to sabotage the FBI reform bill that, up to this point, was sailing through Congress with strongly bipartisan support.

Among other things, the FBI Reform Bill -- which passed unanimously out of the Senate Judiciary Committee -- would allow FBI employees to be covered by the same sort of whistleblower protection as are other employees of the U.S. Federal Government. This would allow people like Coleen Rowley to speak their minds without fear of reprisal -- and, if this had been law earlier, could have made it possible for her and other field agents to be heard in time to stop 9/11 from happening.

But suddenly, and without any explanation, an unidentified Republican senator has placed a hold on the FBI Reform Act of 2002, making it virtually impossible for the legislation to reach the full Senate for a vote.

Knowledgeable persons on the Hill think that this is nothing more than a mean-spirited attempt to get back at the Democrats (who have for the most part gone along with everything Bush has told them to do) for daring to reject one of Bush's judicial nominees, Charles Pickering.

Never mind that when the Republicans controlled the Senate during Clinton's tenure, they shot down so many of his nominees that there's now a huge crisis concerning vacant Federal judgeships; to the Republicans, bipartisanship means "Do it our way or we'll call you unpatriotic!"

Since Senator Don Nickles (R-OK) was the one most loudly calling for "payback", the scuttlebutt is that he's the one behind this backstabbing of the American people.

This wouldn't be the first "punishment" meted out by the high-handedly dictatorial Senate Republicans in the wake of Pickering's defeat eight weeks ago: shortly after Pickering's bid was defeated, minority leader Trent Lott (R-MS) blocked a Judiciary Committee request for $1.5 million to investigate the intelligence community's performance during the Sept. 11 attacks.

It might be time to give Trent Lott a call (202.224.6253 or by fax at 202.224.2262 )and let him know that we don't appreciate his jeopardizing our country's security so he can go play his little payback games.

This isn't grade school anymore, Senator Lott. Remove the hold now -- or the American people will administer their own form of payback this November.

We will remember.