Pete Domenici: “We have all been waiting for a long time. The minority has been telling us that we can't finish the Energy bill in 1…”

“We have all been waiting for a long time. The minority has been telling us that we can't finish the Energy bill in 1 week starting on Monday and working for the entire week. Our distinguished majority leader has been telling us--at least 10 times-- that it won't be 1 week, it will be 1 week and whatever else it takes to finish it. He is sending a nice warning to all of us, as I see it, that we don't intend to put up with long delays. Nobody is offering the last phase of this Energy bill so that we can all have fun on the floor. The idea is, if you want to recess, finish the Energy bill. I will do everything in my power to keep it right in focus. But I can't do much more than the rules permit me and the minority manager on that side will let me do. But I guarantee you that from our standpoint, there will be no efforts to go outside the scope of what is required to complete an Energy bill for the United States. My colleagues know this is how the Senate works. We have scores of amendments listed on the so-called final list. But if anybody were to look at them in this country, they would say: What are you talking about? Those aren't amendments. That is right. They are not. It is just a list of words with numbers alongside them that Senators have put in. I am looking at my friend from Illinois. Some Senators put 30 and 40 of them down. There is no intention to offer those kinds of amendments. We can finish this. The fact is there are 392 amendments.”