Paul Coverdell: “I find this to be exceedingly ironic as I stand here in the midst of the fourth filibuster over the last several months…”

“I find this to be exceedingly ironic as I stand here in the midst of the fourth filibuster over the last several months orchestrated by the President and his administration to block massive education proposals that vast majorities of the American people support. We weathered a filibuster to get to the bill. Now, we have made offers to the other side so that they can bring their package for an open debate. They do not want to do that. Then we said, well, let us try to bring order to the process and have the amendments pertain strictly to the education issue. They rejected that. So basically you have a strategy, through two events, to not allow us to end the filibuster or to just go from amendment to amendment, many of which have nothing to do whatsoever with education. So on the front page we have the President saying that our side of the aisle is not stepping forward on education, but in the Halls of Congress and here where we are doing the people's business, he is orchestrating a filibuster.”