Douglas Alexander: “Well, if I may say, the Senator is certainly entitled to say whatever she wishes to say, but if she wants to bring it…”

“Well, if I may say, the Senator is certainly entitled to say whatever she wishes to say, but if she wants to bring it up, we will begin with the fact that the Speaker of the House and the Republican leader and almost 400 Members of the House sent us this bill. It was not the intention of the Speaker of the House, I assume, to throw grandma from the train by sending us an economic stimulus package. It was her intention to send us a targeted, timely proposal that would be temporary and that the American people could look at and say: The Congress has come to a good result in a bipartisan way. They have many opinions, but they decided what to do. And they will discuss the other issues on down the road. I would like to give the Speaker of the House credit for that, not criticize her for leaving out seniors, not criticize her for leaving out disabled veterans, not criticize our friends on the other side of the aisle on the Finance Committee for leaving out widows of disabled veterans, which would have happened in their first draft. I see no benefit to that. It is much better to do what my friend, the late Alex Haley, used to say: Find the good and praise it. I think there is a good deal to praise here. I am certainly not objecting to the Senator's right to say whatever she wishes. She is eloquent, she is effective, and she works in her committee in a very good way.”