Political Quotes

“let me salute those on the floor who have been so instrumental in bringing us to this point. I look over and see Senator Martinez, who has worked very hard to find a bipartisan compromise which I now support. I thank him for that leadership. I say the same of Senator McCain and Senator Graham and so many others who have gathered here today. They are people of good will who generally want to pass a bill, as I do. The same can be said for many on our side of the aisle who have spent an extraordinary amount of time trying to find this common ground. But let's be very blunt about where we are at the moment. It is 8:15 on Thursday night. Tomorrow is the last day of the session before a 2- week recess. Clearly, if we don't reach some agreement as to how we are going to deal with this bill when we return after the Easter recess, it really is a troubling situation. I hope it is not a situation that would jeopardize the bill. We are trying to come up with a reasonable number of amendments. Yesterday, we calculated there were 228 amendments filed to the pending bill. It is physically impossible to deal with that number of amendments. We know that. As the whip on this side, I have faced 100 or more amendments and had to try to talk Members out of them. At this point, we are trying to reach a reasonable number. We have been given a list of potential amendments on the Republican side.…”