Bill Clinton: “Well, you know, I think that there are a lot of things about the Senate that when they operate properly may be good--the…”

“Well, you know, I think that there are a lot of things about the Senate that when they operate properly may be good--the Senate was designed to slow things down in America by the Founding Fathers--but when they're abused can be bad. I think, among other things, that filibuster has been grossly overused in the last 5 years, and I know of no precedent for this action. But we'll just have to see. I didn't answer that question on purpose. That's right, I didn't answer--let me remind you of what the situation was in the last recess. We just finished a recess, and Senator Lott told me in no uncertain terms that if I intended to recess-appoint Governor Weld, the Senate would not go into recess, and that he would do whatever was necessary to make sure the Senate did not go into recess. And again, I value my relationship with--we got a balanced budget out of this Congress in part because we trusted each other to tell the truth. So I have to be careful how I handle this. I would never mislead Senator Lott, and he might have the same position this time he had last time. So I think it's premature to talk about that. We should do this the right way. This man has been a distinguished public servant, and he ought to get a hearing. Let's do this the right way and not talk about-- there are circumstances under which recess appointments are appropriate, but the appropriate thing to do here is to give this man a hearing. Thank you. Surgeon General Nomination”