On the recordMay 13, 2010
let me say to my colleague, I have any number of colleagues who would like to be doing the same thing. All of them believe strongly in their amendments. I am not arguing about the substance of the amendment. At the conclusion of last evening, we tried to establish a sequence. I have no problem putting my colleague's amendment in the next tranche. My problem is, what do I say to the next colleague who wants to do the same thing? At what point do I say: I can't manage this if we are going to do it this way. Anyone can make a request, and I am trying to deal with these requests as they come forward and put it together in a way that allows us to go forward. We will vote shortly on the Sessions amendment, a Franken amendment. Senator Durbin has an amendment I would like to have called up. Trying to get time agreements is the art of management of legislation. I do not want to deprive anyone of offering an amendment. But at some point--what is the point of having someone sit in this chair if we just all come over and offer amendments and get in line somehow and then we have 60 amendments? Taking unanimous consent at some point to drop that creates a problem in terms of managerial capacity. My colleague will get, to the best of my ability, a chance to have his amendment come up and, hopefully, an adequate amount of time to debate it. I respectfully ask him to give me a chance so I don't end up opening the door to the next Senator making a similar passionate request.
