Heidi Alexander: “I wish to congratulate the Republican leader on his remarks. It is important for those watching to know there are plenty…”

“I wish to congratulate the Republican leader on his remarks. It is important for those watching to know there are plenty of us here who know how the Senate is supposed to work, and we are doing that. We passed the farm bill, and we passed the water resources bill, involving locks, dams, and ports in this country. We did that the way the Senate is supposed to work. We worked across party lines. We got a consensus, got more than the majority, and did it. We have eight Senators who have come forward with an immigration bill, a tough issue, but we are working together to see if we can resolve that. I am part of a group of six or seven Senators who are trying to lower interest rates for 100 percent of students, not just 40 percent. We are not trying to ram it through with 51 votes, but we are trying to get a consensus and then pass it and send it to the House. Hopefully, they will do it. When the great civil rights bills passed, they were a consensus, and the country accepted them because they were important pieces of legislation. When the Republican leader and I were young--I was here and he was almost here--we saw Senator Dirksen and President Johnson work together to get a supermajority to say to the country it is time to move ahead on civil rights. That is the way the Senate is supposed to work. Let's stop the threats, stop the intimidation and recognize the progress we have made and get back to work on immigration. Mr. McCONNELL.…”