Political Quotes

“Let me say first, I appreciate my colleague from North Dakota's inquiry. All I am trying to do in this--and, again, everyone can do that. I suppose there are about 60 amendments, and if we can have everyone's amendment called up, we end up with 60 amendments pending around the place. It adds to the difficulty of sorting it out, because obviously it takes consent to withdraw amendments, to modify amendments, do all sorts of things. So while it seems harmless enough to do so, it complicates the job, which is to sequence events, because obviously then it takes consent to do different things, at which point, for all sorts of different reasons, people can have motivations on why not to give consent, including people who may oppose the amendment, for reasons they want the amendment pending. So I will be very candid with my friend from North Dakota, it complicates my job. But, obviously, I do not want to cause anyone discomfort in the process. They all have amendments they want to bring up, and my job here is to try and orchestrate in a way so that amendments can be brought up, be discussed and debated. My concern is that we end up with sort of this flood. Then everyone comes over, why not give everyone else the same courtesy along the way. If we do, then we end up potentially with chaos, on what happens to be a pretty good bill, I think at this juncture. More work needs to be done, I will be the first to acknowledge and admit that.”