Under fire to quit, Burris goes about his business

BY HENRY C. JACKSON, ASSOCIATES PRESS WRITER

If it were up to Roland Burris, he'd be here to stay.

A week of lonely walks, calls for his resignation and cameras following his every move didn't seem to affect the new senator from Illinois. The opposite, actually: Burris spent most of his time digging in.

"He's kept a busy schedule since arriving in Washington, and he's made a point of really going about the business of the Senate," said Burris' spokesman, Jim O'Connor.

Burris, a Democrat, was appointed to the Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama by former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was impeached and driven from office after being accused of trying to sell the Senate seat. Burris is under scrutiny because of new allegations about the circumstances of his appointment and for changing his story about it multiple times. >>MORE