Tom Harkin: “I find it interesting, my friend from New Hampshire making this argument. Four years ago, when the Senator from Texas…”

“I find it interesting, my friend from New Hampshire making this argument. Four years ago, when the Senator from Texas offered a gun amendment on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, I didn't hear a peep from my friend from New Hampshire, not a word. But now, when we want to address the issue of school violence and guns, the Senator from New Hampshire says: Oh, well, now we can't discuss that. It is not relevant. The Senator from New Hampshire knows, as well as I do, there is no rule in the Senate that demands relevancy. That is the House. That is why we are the great deliberative body that we are. We can debate and discuss things. If the Senator wants to go back to the House, where they have a Rules Committee, and they only discuss issues that the Rules Committee says are relevant--that is the House of Representatives. This is the Senate. We do not have such a rule. Thank God we do not because it allows us, as Senators, to have the kind of open and free debate and discussion that I think distinguishes the Senate from the House of Representatives. That allows us a time to cool things down, as Thomas Jefferson said. We are willing to bring up the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and agree to a time limit. We could be done in 1 day. But the Republicans do not want to vote on the gun issue. They don't want to have to belly up to the bar and vote to keep guns out of the hands of kids. They don't want to have that amendment.”