Dan Coats: “I would like to discuss today's vote, as others who have come down here. First of all, it is important to understand…”

“I would like to discuss today's vote, as others who have come down here. First of all, it is important to understand that this was a vote on whether to start debate. I was one of those who joined several of my colleagues saying: Yes, this ought to be debated. It was not a vote to pass or not pass the legislation. That will come. But the frustration that so many of us have had over this past year in particular of not being able to participate in the process of legislating boiled over at the end of the year and ended with a change in the rules in the way the Senate has operated for more than 200 years and stuffed the desires of the minority to be able to participate in certain areas regarding nominations. Now there is some talk about doing the same for legislation. That frustration has led many of us to try to rethink: How can we get back to what is called regular order--the way the Senate has always operated in the past, the way it operated when I came here in my first tranche in the Senate. I started in the House of Representatives back in 1980. I was part of a minority for four straight terms. There are majority rules. If one is in the minority, they do not have a whole lot of authority. Maybe at that time we held the White House under Ronald Reagan.…”