Joe Biden: “The Senator does not owe the Senator from Delaware any apology at all. I think the case he makes is the correct case. I…”

“The Senator does not owe the Senator from Delaware any apology at all. I think the case he makes is the correct case. I am particularly concerned that the most important foreign policy debate we have had maybe in the 25 years that I have been here is being used as a filler. That bothers me. It bothers me in the sense it lends an air of credibility to the unfair criticism that we have not adequately and fully and seriously taken into consideration the pros and cons relating to expansion. It just reinforces, in my view, that false argument. I happen to support the position of Senator Coverdell on the procedural aspects of the issue. There is no question the Senator from North Dakota, in my view, is correct. I have been here 25 years. We have just begun, in the last couple of years, deciding new and innovative ways to avoid the opportunity for people to be able to get a vote on issues on this floor. For the first 23 years I was here, I don't ever recall us being in a circumstance where the minority was presented with the proposition that you put up your package, we will put up our package, we each get one vote, and that is it. That is not the way the rules were intended to work, in my view. I am not suggesting that the majority leader is violating the letter of the Senate rules, but I think the spirit is being violated.”