Heidi Alexander: “the so-called tax extenders bill is the subject of discussion--55 provisions in the Tax Code to be extended that have…”

“the so-called tax extenders bill is the subject of discussion--55 provisions in the Tax Code to be extended that have expired or are expiring. The wind production tax credit is one of those. I hope the majority leader will do what the Senate should do, which is to allow those of us who have amendments--like the Senator from Arizona and I, who have offered two amendments related to the wind production tax credit--to have our say on behalf of the people of Tennessee and Arizona and the American people and to not impose the gag rule on the American people, which has become the practice here in the Senate. The only reason we are really here is to have a say and to have a vote on behalf of the people who have elected us. If an important bill, such as the tax extenders bill, comes forward and we have a $13 billion expenditure that Americans feel strongly about, we ought to have a vote. We ought to have a say. So I hope very much, as we move forward, the majority leader will bring us back to the time when the Senate offered a chance to have a vote, to have a say on behalf of the people of the United States. We might not win our vote, we might lose our vote, but we will have had our say. This is the body in the American constitutional framework that has been described in the most recent history of the Senate as the one authentic bit of genius in the American system of government.…”