Chuck Grassley: “I would like to shed some light on where we are. As I shed some light, I wish to respond to some of the fiction that has…”

“I would like to shed some light on where we are. As I shed some light, I wish to respond to some of the fiction that has taken the guise of debate. On Wednesday of last week, two Senators, one Republican and one Democrat--Senator Hutchison and Senator Durbin, respectively--offered an amendment to strike a provision in the substitute amendment then before the Senate. The substitute then pending was the product of extensive staff negotiations and Member discussions between two committees with jurisdiction over the Federal Aviation Administration program. The two committees were the Finance Committee, on which I serve, and the Commerce Committee, on which I do not serve. First, nothing gets done in the Senate that is not somewhat bipartisan because of the benefit of debate for minorities to hold up legislation until things are accommodated--meaning compromise.”