Cord Byrd: “Very well. But that bill came over from the House to the Senate. Unfortunately for those of us who would like to see the…”

“Very well. But that bill came over from the House to the Senate. Unfortunately for those of us who would like to see the bill slowed down and perhaps amended to make it a better bill, we find there has been kind of a contract entered into, if I may put it that way. It was not a written contract. Perhaps I should say it is an understanding rather than a contract. There seems to be an understanding among some Senators that perhaps with the House--I don't know how far this understanding goes, but Senators who have entered into this understanding will vote against any amendment--any amendment, any amendment--to the House bill. We are not going to debate the Senate bill. We are not going to act upon the Senate bill. We have taken up the House bill, and no amendments shall pass. That is it. No amendments shall pass. I want to say to the Chair, to the distinguished Senator from Alabama who presides over the Senate, that I have been in legislative bodies now 54 years. I have been in this Congress 48 years. I have been in this body 42 years. This is something that is absolutely new to me, this method of legislating where Senators and the administration--I am talking about Senators on both sides--enter into an understanding somehow. I don't know whether they met and had a show of hands or had a debate about it. But anyway, we have been told by Senators on this floor that they will vote against any amendment, no matter what its merits.”