Political Quotes

“let me be precise. It is legally permissible but unwise. Let me explain what I mean. I think the reason for the cloture vote is not because the majority leader expects anyone to filibuster. It is a tool that he has learned and has sharpened and honed very well to gain control and maintain control of the agenda and provide for the inability of anyone to amend whatever he wishes us to vote on. That is what this is about. This has nothing to do with anyone filibustering. Indeed, I have not heard a single person suggest a filibuster. It has to do with the leader using, skillfully, as he does, the tools to be able to control the agenda of the Senate and determine what we will vote on, how long we will debate, and if we will debate. If the Lott-Smith amendment prevails and is attached to the supplemental, I predict that the entire supplemental will fail. If that happens we will never have any action on Kosovo or the supplemental for the near term. That is my guess. There is some confusion in the House, because they thought, as the President thought, that there would be an agreement between the Kosovars and the Serbs as a consequence of the meetings in France. They concluded that they should debate whether or not we would place American forces on the ground, as offered by the President, if there was a peace agreement. But there is no peace agreement.”