Tom Harkin: “I cannot help but be reminded of that wonderful phrase from ``Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass,'' where…”

“I cannot help but be reminded of that wonderful phrase from ``Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass,'' where Humpty-Dumpty is talking to Alice. Let me paraphrase: ``When I use a word it means just what I mean it to mean.'' And Alice says, ``Well that's not fair. It doesn't work that way.'' And Humpty-Dumpty says: ``The real question is, who's going to be the boss?'' That is really what this is all about. Who is going to be the boss? Are we, in fact, going to have a structure that allows for real cooperation? I will say to my friend from Missouri that real cooperation, productive cooperation, can only occur when the parties who are seeking to cooperate do so on a level playing field. To have one side or the other impose a structure, to impose rules, to impose what the framework is is not going to lead to productive cooperation.”