Chuck Grassley: “as we consider the Senate amendment to the omnibus bill, I have to ask: Why are we still here? I have to ask: Didn't we…”

“as we consider the Senate amendment to the omnibus bill, I have to ask: Why are we still here? I have to ask: Didn't we already go through this exercise? I have to ask: Aren't we finished with the Senate debate? In the face of the urgent need to enact an AMT patch, does the House Democratic leadership want the Senate to reenact recent debates and resuscitate old talking points? Our un-offset AMT patch already passed with the support of 88 Senators. While I believe this legislation is extremely important and we will debate it for as long as is necessary, I question the necessity of going through a process that resulted in overwhelming bipartisan passage of the same bill 2 weeks ago. That is my first point. This is, in fact, a curious exercise. It is an exercise with no apparent purpose other than delay. Is the delay on the part of the House Democratic leadership important? Why doesn't the House send the amended House bill which cleared this Chamber by a vote of 88 to 5 to the President of the United States for signature? Because President Bush will sign it. That bill does meet--again the words from the letter of the chairman of the committee--that bill does meet the mutually agreeable criteria of the tax writers' letter. The amendment before us, just as the prior House vote, does not meet the mutually agreeable criteria that was in that letter.”