Dan Coats: “I came to the floor having spoken at great length last week outlining why I thought this agreement was something that…”

“I came to the floor having spoken at great length last week outlining why I thought this agreement was something that ought to be fully debated and fully understood not only by Members of the Senate but by the American people. We had that debate. We were promised from the very beginning and it was enacted into law that Congress would be provided with all materials talked about and agreed upon before we had a vote to determine whether we would support approval or disapproval of this. We had a vote Thursday, which was procedural, to give us the opportunity to register our yes and no, our yea and nay. The American people deserve to know on the record where we stand on this. There have been arguments made on both sides of this issue. Personally, I think a close examination of this raises serious questions--so serious that it is not something someone can come to the floor and simply say: Well, that is over, that is done, and let's move on. There are more important things ahead. It is hard for me to understand what is more important than getting this right. I think the issues I laid out last week on Thursday before the vote are issues that still need consideration. But the real reason we are back here-- thank you, Senator McConnell, for giving us another opportunity--is because we fell two votes short of the opportunity to even take a vote. We took a vote on a procedural measure--a measure which, as we all know, you can go home and hide behind.…”