Chris Dodd: “I hope we can stay away from filibusters and get everybody to have an up-or-down vote. This is a very important bill…”

“I hope we can stay away from filibusters and get everybody to have an up-or-down vote. This is a very important bill, and it is also about how this institution functions and whether we trust each other to be able to offer an amendment, have an adequate amount of time to debate, and then vote up or down. That is how we ought to function. I hope this bill will not only produce a good product in the end but will also have the healing quality this institution needs. We have been through a lot in this Congress. We need to get back to acting like colleagues, respecting each other's opinions, having a good partisan debate but doing it in a civil fashion, having the consideration each person deserves to be heard, and having a vote up or down. I offer that as a suggestion on how we might proceed.”