Liz Saville Roberts: “I may go step 1 instead of step 2. Mr. President, on the definition of ``bipartisan,'' bipartisan is where you accept…”

“I may go step 1 instead of step 2. Mr. President, on the definition of ``bipartisan,'' bipartisan is where you accept our view and not your view, and different Senators can define that depending on their strong opinion. Let me point out that when this started, the amount of funding was somewhere between $4 billion and $5 billion, and many thought that was too much. It is now $7.5 billion. If that isn't compromise, and some would think in the wrong direction, I don't know what compromise is. Let me point out that Senators came to me from both sides of the aisle. This has not been exclusively a Republican initiative by any means. They worried that too many of these programs were not specified, and they had a lot of problems with those individual programs. Let me point out that when I met with my good friends and colleagues in that Cloakroom and discussed this issue for about 20 minutes, if that isn't bipartisan, colleagues, I must have been in the wrong Cloakroom. Now we are into a discussion as to whether or not there is enough disaster assistance when the Secretary of Agriculture indicated that $400 million was at least a first step for him to take a look at it. Then we are into these acronyms of LDP and AMTA. That is why people's eyes glaze over when we have any debate on farm program policy. We ought to give the money out. Under AMTA, you get it in 10 days. Under LDP, it takes months. We are arguing about acronyms and we are arguing about numbers.”