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Roland Burris (AP Photo / Ted Warren)
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By James Wright
AFRO Staff Writer
(January 6, 2009) – As expected, Illinois Senator-designate Roland Burris was denied entry into the U.S. Senate chamber today. Burris appeared before Nancy Erickson, the secretary of the Senate, to present his credentials and she refused to accept them.
The Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has refused to certify Burris’s credentials.
Burris was chosen to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the Senate by a defiant Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) who faces federal corruption charges.
The selection has been met with opposition from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) as well as Obama.
Reid and others have said that the issue is not Burris, a former Illinois attorney general, but the fact that he was selected by a tainted Blagojevich. According to reports, Reid is expected to meet with Burris on Wednesday.