Heidi Alexander: “I congratulate the Senator from Oklahoma on his remarks and participation in this debate. Before long, we should…”

“I congratulate the Senator from Oklahoma on his remarks and participation in this debate. Before long, we should have--whenever the majority leader decides--a vote on the Coburn amendment. We are in a position on this resolution that relevant amendments are in order. At the moment, we don't have any others. If we don't have others, then we will proceed to the final bill later this afternoon when the majority leader decides we should do that. We passed the bill this morning with 79 votes. I will have more to say about this resolution in a moment. I wish to say something that is directly relevant to what the Senator from Oklahoma talked about. We keep talking about duplication, which is an important part of our oversight responsibilities. Sometimes that leads to the elimination of government bureaucracies, which is a rare event. Ronald Reagan once said a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life that we will ever see on this Earth. I had an example of that this morning, I say to the Senator from Oklahoma, in a Rules Committee hearing. The purpose of the hearing was to review the qualifications of three excellent men and women who were nominated by the President to serve on the Election Assistance Commission. But what I said at the hearing and what I would like to say on the floor--with all due respect to those excellent nominees--instead of considering the nominees, we should be abolishing the Commission because it doesn't have anything to do.…”