On the recordMay 25, 2010
I thank my colleague from Oregon for keeping up the fight. We have been at it for a long period of time. There has been a dry spell recently when this has not been a major issue. So we didn't feel, when there wasn't an interest in getting rid of secrecy within the Senate, like bringing this up. But now there is all this concern about what is going on with so many holds in the Senate--either bills or nominations--and that it is influencing the productivity of the Senate. There has been a lot of discussion on the floor of the Senate about this issue, so the opportunity is ripe once again. This is the fourth or fifth time in the last couple weeks we have been at it. I thank my colleague from Oregon for keeping up the fight. I am glad to work with him as a Republican, and a lot of other Republicans who support this effort of making the public's business more public, the Senate's business more public. Without repeating that, I have made it a practice for a long period of time--I don't know, it has been 10 or 12 years--that when I put a hold on a bill or put a hold on a nomination, I have put a statement in the public record so that they know the Senator from Iowa has done this and my reason for doing it.
