Chris Dodd: “let me begin by saying these are the sorts of uncomfortable moments in the Senate when we start to deal with each other…”

“let me begin by saying these are the sorts of uncomfortable moments in the Senate when we start to deal with each other on a personal level. I have been in this body for 24 years and I take no comfort in engaging in this kind of discussion. But as the ranking Democrat on the Rules Committee, serving with my friend and colleague from Mississippi, Trent Lott, as the chairman of the committee, I felt it was important to at least express to my colleagues here the position this Senator has as a member of that committee and as a former chairman of the Rules Committee. Very simply stated, as a matter of process--putting aside for a second the arguments on behalf of our colleague from Oklahoma and his noble determination and desire to continue the profession in which he has been engaged for years--there is a means by which we go through changes in the rules in this body. We have established that process for orderly reasons. What is being suggested here by this amendment is a change in the rules of the Senate, and there is a committee established by this body to consider such proposals. There is nothing in the rules of the Senate which prohibits any Member of this body from engaging in the practice of a profession, except as constrained by Rules XXXVI and XXXVII. As the Senator from Ohio has pointed out, what is being suggested here is that a member be allowed to earn some level of compensation in order to defray certain expenses.…”