Paul Coverdell: “it is a bit unexpected that the other side is continuing to filibuster a very common sense educational proposal. We…”

“it is a bit unexpected that the other side is continuing to filibuster a very common sense educational proposal. We began this odyssey on June 27, 1997, when the Senate passed an amendment offered by myself to create educational savings accounts, and it passed 59-41. Subsequent to that, the President of the United States indicated that he would veto the entire tax relief package of last year if this amendment remained in the bill. It was then introduced as freestanding legislation, and the other side debated it, filibustered it, and indicated that the filibuster was based entirely on the fact that it had not gone through the committee appropriately. It was a procedural filibuster. So they denied the opportunity to develop the educational savings account at that time. We were unable to break their filibuster, though we received 56 votes, needing 60 to do it. I remember the other side saying it is really not a bad idea; it's just the process. Well, in this setting of the Congress, this legislation has now gone through the Finance Committee and has been reported to the floor 11-8 on a bipartisan basis. The legislation has been expanded considerably-- which I will address in a moment--to meet the thoughts of the other side. Eighty percent of the financial impact of the legislation now, in terms of tax relief, is based on ideas from the other side.”