Chuck Grassley: “I rise for two reasons: one, to give the compromise that is before the Senate a defense against Senator Kerry's…”

“I rise for two reasons: one, to give the compromise that is before the Senate a defense against Senator Kerry's amendment; and then to comment on the bill generally, and mostly to comment to some of my fellow colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle in relation to what I consider unfair criticism of this compromise. I do not rise to find fault with the goals Senator Kerry has put forth. I do not even find fault with some of his arguments about loophole closings. I might feel compelled to argue against the marginal tax increases he might want to have, but right now I will concentrate on his view of expanding this compromise, not questioning his motives, and not raising any question about the sincerity of his wanting to do more--except reflecting on the 4 or 5 months Senator Baucus and I have been putting this bill together, we have all had some rude awakenings. Those rude awakenings are that what we put together as a $50 billion package, when it was first scored came back much higher than $50 billion.”