Political Quotes

“I appreciate the comments from my colleagues raising attention to the issue in Flint, MI. I think we have had good, constructive discussions, not only very intensely yesterday, but working with the two Senators from Michigan on this issue for several months right now. As the Senator said, the discussions are still ongoing, and I want to speak to where we are in that process. I would like to start my comments this morning by recognizing that we are very close to the time that has been set for this first cloture vote on this broad bipartisan bill. As we approach it, I want to follow on the majority leader's comments in terms of reminding Members of what we have incorporated within this measure, to reiterate the strong bipartisan support that our bill has drawn, and to lay out what I believe is our best path to final passage. This Energy Policy Modernization Act, as I have mentioned, is more than a year's worth of hard work by those of us who serve on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, it has been the result of Member-to- Member conversations, listening sessions, legislative hearings, bipartisan negotiations, and then we had a marathon 3-day markup in July. At the end of that markup, we moved it out by a vote of 18-to-4. It was pretty strong support--10 Republicans and 8 Democrats in favor. The reason the bill passed out of the committee on such a strong bipartisan basis was not just because of our commitment to good process.…”