Political Quotes

“I thank the leader. Mr. President, I will respond to some comments he made a few minutes ago. First, about the asbestos bill, I think the record speaks for itself. A 393-page bill came to the floor of the Senate. It was a fairly complicated bill, which would have affected hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of Americans over the next 50 years, and created a $140 billion trust fund. It involved payments of billions of dollars into that trust fund by American businesses from a list that was never publicly disclosed. Then as the bill arrived on the floor, as we expected, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee filed a substitute to the bill, wiping away the 393-page bill, replacing it with a 392-page bill, and then we proceeded to debate. One amendment was called by the Senator from Texas, Mr. Cornyn. Objection was made on the floor to Senator Cornyn's amendment, and a motion to table and stop debate on his amendment was passed. At that point, we went into a question about whether that bill would satisfy the requirements of the Budget Act. Then, without another amendment being offered, the majority leader announced the Republican side was going to file a cloture motion to close down debate and amendments on this bill.…”