Dan Coats: “I am tempted to move the question here because the Senator has presented his amendment, and he has presented his…”

“I am tempted to move the question here because the Senator has presented his amendment, and he has presented his argument. There is no one on the floor to either argue against the Senator's amendment, to speak for the Senator's amendment, or to offer an amendment to the bill that we are debating. Here it is now 12:30 p.m., and we are in this typical nothing-happens-during-daylight hours in the U.S. Senate. We have an important bill on the floor. We have amendments that we are aware of, but no one is here to offer those amendments. I am not going to move for adoption of this amendment by voice vote yet, in deference to those that may want to speak against it or for the Senator's interest in getting a rollcall vote, but the bill before the Senate, the defense authorization bill for fiscal year 1997, is not being debated. The Senate is wasting a lot of time.”