Political Quotes

“Mr. President, yesterday we did a colloquy on the CBO's inability to make a reliable estimate of mandate costs. Senator Levin was concerned primarily that the CBO be given the freedom to not make an estimate. I was concerned that the Congress not provide a loophole which would frustrate the very intent of this bill, which is accountability and informed decisionmaking. The purpose of the Levin-Kempthorne-Glenn amendment will be to accommodate both interests. If the CBO director cannot make an estimate, he or she shall so state it. But the failure of the CBO Director to make an estimate will still trigger the point of order. This will provide the Senate with the opportunity to debate issues concerning the estimate and the funding decisions. It will be the will of the Senate at that point to either waive a point or not. Mr. President, I believe that this addresses what we were discussing yesterday in a thorough discussion and it accomplishes what both of us needed to have accomplished.”