Pete Domenici: “The public sometimes, at least the few that watch this on C-SPAN, must wonder what is all of this about? How come the…”

“The public sometimes, at least the few that watch this on C-SPAN, must wonder what is all of this about? How come the U.S. House took the budget up, and in 1 day they had whatever votes they have, and now, look. The Senator from New Mexico is clearly committed to the U.S. Senate. I do not want the Senate to become a House. But I should indicate that some who are wondering, ``Can't you manage affairs better over here?'' well, first of all, the U.S. House establishes amendments on the floor through a committee called the Rules Committee. So they have a committee in between that decides what amendments are going to be allowed on the floor in normal circumstances. There is a way to get around that but very seldom. So they sit and listen to the amendments and decide which two or three or four are going to be considered. Everyone should know that while the Senate is different from that, and different in two ways that we are very proud of--one is that there is great freedom of amendment on the part of Senators. That is the Senate. You can offer amendments in ordinary legislation. You can offer them. They do not have to be germane. They can be irrelevant. If you want a vote on stopping a war on a bill that is funding education, the Senate lets you do that. It is one of the great strengths of this body.”