Heidi Alexander: “I thank the Senator from Arkansas for withdrawing his amendment. I defended his right to have the amendment. I opposed…”

“I thank the Senator from Arkansas for withdrawing his amendment. I defended his right to have the amendment. I opposed the amendment, and I explained before the vote why I did that, so it is not necessary for me to say more about it. As Senator Feinstein and I said before the vote, we are ready to finish the bill. We have had terrific cooperation from Senators on both sides of the aisle. We will have included 21 amendments in the bill by the time we are finished. More than 80 Senators have made a contribution to the bill. It has importance to every part of our country. It is the first bill of a series of 12 that we need to deal with. It is within the budget levels. It is not a part of the Federal debt problem because the discretionary spending we are talking about is fairly flat. It is a well-designed bill, and we are ready to finish the bill. When it will be finished, of course, is up to the majority leader and the Democratic leader as they schedule. All that remains to be done, since Senator Feinstein and I have recommended that we have votes on the Cardin and Fischer amendments at 60 and that we adopt a Flake-modified amendment by voice vote--then all that remains is a cloture vote, if necessary, and final passage.…”