Tom Carper: “what I was saying, in closing, one of my greatest fears is that we end up with this partisan battle. Those of us who…”

“what I was saying, in closing, one of my greatest fears is that we end up with this partisan battle. Those of us who fervently want to accomplish asbestos litigation reform, a comprehensive energy bill, determining what the business model for the Postal Service ought to be in the 21st century or the passenger rail service in the 21st century--what should our next steps be in welfare reform? How are we going to provide health care coverage, reduce the costs, and extend coverage to all kinds of people? There is a ton of stuff, so many issues we need to address. The postal bill alone--the Presiding Officer serves on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee with me. We worked for years, Senator Collins, myself, and others, to determine what should the Postal Service look like in the 21st century. What should the business model be? We unanimously passed the bill last year out of committee. Over in the House of Representatives, almost the very same bill was negotiated, debated, and passed unanimously by our counterpart committee. There was not a single ``no'' vote. We could not get either bill to the floor for debate. And that is when we agree. I remind my friends, if it is that hard to get legislation through the House and Senate to the President for his signature when we agree, God help us on difficult issues such as asbestos or comprehensive energy policy or health care or the like. Finally, I have a whole lot of quotes here.…”