Heidi Alexander: “in the next few minutes, the Senate will be taking the next steps on an appropriations process that is being conducted…”

“in the next few minutes, the Senate will be taking the next steps on an appropriations process that is being conducted the way an appropriations process is supposed to be conducted. Boy Scouts shouldn't get a merit badge for telling the truth, and Senators shouldn't get a pat on the back for conducting an appropriations process the way it is supposed to be conducted. It is worth noting that we are doing it, since it has been a long time since we have done it. The right way means we are moving ahead on three bills: Energy and Water, legislative affairs, and Military Construction. The right way means we have had hearings on all of these bills. We have consulted with Senators. I know that in our Energy and Water bill, Senator Feinstein and I heard from 83 different Senators and tried to respond to them in our bill. We marked up the bills unanimously in most cases. What was missing was allowing the other 70 Senators to participate on the floor. We did that this time; 40 amendments, 7 rollcall votes. We got off the floor without a cloture vote; that is, a motion to cut off debate. We are doing it the way it is supposed to be done. That was done by showing something that needs to be shown more in the Senate-- restraint. Restraint means that when you have a lot of freedom, it doesn't mean you exercise all of your freedoms all at once because nothing will happen. We avoided controversial riders.…”