Political Quotes

“The letter says: At the request of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman today suspended any further markup of energy legislation for this session of Congress. Now that is pretty blatant, in my opinion, taking the authority away from the committee. So much for the legislative process, the value of the committee process, or the interests of this Nation and our fellow citizens. So much for the majority leader and the chairman of the Energy Committee defending the Standing Rules of the Senate and the rules of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Why was this extraordinary action taken? According to a press release, as I have indicated, the Democratic leader made this decision because he wanted to avoid, 'quarrelsome, divisive votes in the committee.' The fact is we had the votes in the committee to pass it out, and it was generally known. It was known by the chairman, it was known by the majority leader, and it was known by the majority.”