Political Quotes

“I certainly agree and am anxious to work with Senator Bingaman in moving this matter along. My list currently shows 73 amendments pending on the other side, many of which, I am sure, can be addressed without a vote and simply dispatched--if Members would come over and discuss them with the professional staff in an effort to try to respond to the interests of the individual Senators. We probably have 18 amendments that I have identified over here on which Republican Senators have indicated they want to try to work out something. The generalization was made last night that we are filibustering the bill on this side. I want the record to reflect that clearly is not the case. In response to my friend's proposal that we limit amendments, I hope we get that agreement and that I can address the concerns of some of our Members. If there are any Members who want to add amendments to it, this is the time to do it. Then we can close out the amendment list and proceed to wind up this bill. I want to make sure everybody understands that we are not filibustering this bill or attempting to hold it up. The only way to move it along is by the amendment process. We want to move it along. It is my intention to work with our side to get an agreement on amendments and encourage Members to come over here. I understand we may be setting this aside again this evening to go on election reform, when we can clearly continue to be on energy.”