Political Quotes

“Mr. President, a cursory review of the record will indicate that the Appropriations Committee has 12 subcommittees. Eleven of these subcommittees have reported their bills to the full committee, and they have all passed. They are on the desk, ready to go. But something has happened in the interim. I ask my colleagues to keep in mind that the bulk of them--by that, I mean nine of the subcommittee bills--were passed by the middle of July. That is a long time ago. We have had hearings with not one or two witnesses but hundreds of witnesses. We have discussed and debated all of the items in the measure, and we present that to the floor and we try to schedule them, but there are holds and threats of filibuster and such. Therefore, I want the Senate to know that the Appropriations Committee has done its utmost to make certain that these measures are passed in the regular order. One subcommittee has not been able to conclude its resolution because a new budget agreement just came in--a budget amendment which the committee has to consider, and therefore they have to look it over. We are not just cursorily rubberstamping every budget amendment. Amendment No. 4674 (Purpose: In the nature of a substitute) Mr. President, I have a substitute amendment at the desk, and I ask for its immediate consideration. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The assistant legislative clerk read as follows: The Senator from Hawaii [Mr. Inouye] proposes an amendment numbered 4674.”